Eunice Kennedy Shriver Dies

Eunice Kennedy Shriver has died at the age of 88 in a Cape Cod, Mass., hospital. Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968 and was a younger sister of the late President John F. Kennedy, as well as an older sister of Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Eunice Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass., in 1921 as the fifth of nine children of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. She grew up in Massachusetts, Florida and London, when her father served as U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, and received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Stanford University. In an obituary this morning, the Boston Globe describes Shriver as the most intellectually gifted and ambitious girl in the Kennedy family, who used her drive to advance the rights and quality of life of people with mental disabilities. The eldest Kennedy daughter, Rosemary, was developmentally disabled, and Eunice Kennedy was described as the closest of the siblings to her during their childhood.

In 1953, Eunice Kennedy married R. Sargent Shriver Jr., who went on to become the first director of the Peace Corps, an ambassador to France and a vice presidential candidate.

The Kennedy family issued a statement following Shriver's death this morning saying, "It is hard for us to believe the amazing Eunice Kennedy Shriver went home to God this morning at 2 a.m. She was the light of our lives -- a mother, wife, grandmother, sister and aunt -- and taught us by example, and with passion, what it means to live a faith-driven life of love and service to others."

She is survived by her husband, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, as well as five children, 22 grandchildren, her brother Ted Kennedy and her sister Jean Kennedy Smith.