Washington — Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy and the mom of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was remembered in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, with a eulogy delivered by President Biden. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Invoice Clinton additionally spoke on the service, which was held on the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.

The human rights advocate, mom and grandmother died in her sleep earlier this month after a stroke. She was 96.  

Mr. Biden stated Kennedy performed an “important position in my life,” providing glimpses of their private relationship. When his first spouse and daughter had been killed in a automobile crash in 1972, “she was there,” the president stated. And when Mr. Biden was elected president in 2020, he acquired a letter from her that stated it gave her nice “consolation” to know the nation was in his arms. And she or he all the time despatched a Valentine’s Day card.

“I am not bidin’ my time ready for you, valentine,” one such card from her stated, Mr. Biden recalled.

The president stated Kennedy was filled with integrity, empathy, pleasure and lightweight. And she or he and Ted Kennedy inspired him when he was fed up with Congress and needed to go away the Senate, he stated. 

“She obtained me via a time I did not wish to stick round,” the president stated. 

Mr. Biden stated Kennedy picked up her late husband’s causes and stamped her personal imprint on them. 

“We’re a greater nation and a greater world due to Ethel Kennedy,” he stated. 

Obama referred to as Kennedy a “large dose in a small bundle,” and a “spitfire from a younger age.” She was enthusiastic about the whole lot, Obama stated, from juvenile justice reform to civil rights. 

“As severe as Ethel was about righting wrongs, she by no means appeared to take herself too critically,” Obama stated. 

Clinton referred to as her an “superb fireball with steady power.” 

“I assumed your mom was the cat’s meow,” Clinton instructed her assembled household.

Kennedy had not solely political stars at her memorial service, however musical ones as effectively. Stevie Marvel and Kenny Chesney carried out in her honor. 

The matriarch of the storied Kennedy household is survived by 9 kids, 34 grandchildren and plenty of great-grandchildren. Her grandson, Joe Kennedy III, stated she was a “sturdy girl who has led a remarkably fulfilling life.” 

Members of the Kennedy household gathered Monday for her funeral in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Mr. Biden has praised Kennedy for her resilience and willpower. 

“Ethel Kennedy was an American icon — a matriarch of optimism and ethical braveness, an emblem of resilience and repair,” Mr. Biden stated in an announcement after her dying. “Dedicated to household and nation, she had a backbone of metal and a coronary heart of gold that impressed hundreds of thousands of People, together with me and Jill. We had been blessed to name her a pricey buddy.”

Ethel Kennedy, who had 11 kids, raised them after her husband was assassinated in 1968 throughout his presidential marketing campaign. Her son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was operating for president in 2024 as an unbiased, however he suspended his marketing campaign in August and endorsed former President Donald Trump.

Born on April 11, 1928, Kennedy suffered a lot of tragedies in her lengthy life. In 1955, each of her dad and mom died when their non-public aircraft crashed. Her son, David Kennedy, died of a drug overdose at 28. One other son, Michael Kennedy, was killed in a snowboarding accident at 39. And each her husband and her brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated. 

She based the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights basis in October 1968, shortly after her husband’s assassination.