Joan Bennett Kennedy, the elegant and resilient first wife of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, has died peacefully in her sleep at her Boston home.
She was 89.
Behind the polished family portraits
Known for her grace under the glare of one of America’s most famous families, Joan’s life was marked by both immense privilege and heartbreaking struggle.
A classically trained pianist with a master’s degree in education, she once told People she found comfort in music — a lesson she said came from Jackie Kennedy herself, who advised her to “turn to the piano” when life within the Kennedy dynasty became too heavy to bear.
Born on September 2, 1936, in New York City, Joan grew up in a devout Catholic family and met Ted Kennedy in 1957 through his sister Jean while the two women attended Manhattanville College. The couple married a year later, in 1958, and Joan soon found herself thrust into the heart of Camelot — the youngest wife of the youngest U.S. Senator in American history. Sen. Ted Kennedy was once expected to become the president of the United States.
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