Joan Bennett Kennedy, 1st Wife Of Late Sen. Ted Kennedy, Dies

BOSTON, MA — Joan Bennett Kennedy, the first wife of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, died Wednesday. She was 89.

Bennet Kennedy "passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home in Boston," according to her obituary.

Bennett Kennedy and Kennedy were married for 24 years, her obituary said, and had three children, Kara, Ted Jr., and Patrick.

Bennett Kennedy's nephew Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the United States secretary of health and human services, posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, about her death.

"My beloved aunt Joan Bennett Kennedy, former wife of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), classical pianist, music teacher, and advocate for mental health and addiction services, passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home in Boston, Massachusetts yesterday at the age of 89," Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted.

"She was my friend, confidante, and my partner in recovery," he said in the post. "Joan inspired me with her courage and humility. She was one of the first prominent women in America to publicly acknowledge her struggles with alcoholism and depression, a move that she felt was essential to breaking the silence and tackling the taboo of addiction in the 1970s."

Bennett Kennedy was in New York City and married Ted Kennedy in 1958, her obituary said.

Barely 10 years into their marriage, Bennett Kennedy endured the Chappaquiddick scandal and remained married to Ted Kennedy for another 13 years before they divorced, according to the website Biography.com. She did not remarry.

"In July 2000, the Boston Globe published an article on Kennedy that portrayed her as a busy socialite and grandmother," Biography.com said. "The piece reported that she had been sober for nine years at the time, and was on good terms with the rest of the Kennedy clan, including her ex-husband and his second wife."

Bennett Kennedy is survived by her sons, Ted Jr., and Patrick, nine grandchildren, a great-grandchild, and a sister, Candace McMurrey, her obituary said.