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Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Jean Kennedy Smith, last surviving sibling of JFK, dies at 92

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Jean Kennedy Smith, last surviving sibling of JFK, dies at 92
Jean Kennedy Smith, last surviving sibling of JFK, dies at 92

Jean Kennedy Smith, the last surviving sibling of slain President John F.

Kennedy, who as U.S. ambassador to Ireland in the 1990s played a pivotal role in the Northern Irish peace process, died on Wednesday at age 92.

This report produced by Yahaira Jacquez.

Jean Kennedy Smith - the last surviving sibling of President John F.

Kennedy and a former U.S. ambassador to Ireland - died on Wednesday at the age of 92.

Her death was confirmed by her daughter Kym, who told Reuters she died at her home in Manhattan, declining to give a cause of death "to keep it private." The eighth of nine children born to Joseph and Rose Kennedy, Kennedy Smith was labeled the 'shy' sister, though she made her own leap into the spotlight in 1993 when she became U.S. ambassador to Ireland.

Here she is with President Bill Clinton, who nominated her to the post.

As ambassador, she played a role in the Northern Ireland peace process, which led to the end of three decades of violence that killed more than 3,600 people.

She was awarded honorary Irish citizenship in 1998 for her efforts and told the Washington Post: "I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time." In outliving her siblings, Kennedy Smith endured their tragic deaths.

She was just 16 when her oldest brother, Joseph Kennedy Jr., was killed in World War Two.

Four years later, her older sister Kathleen Kennedy died in a plane crash.

Then President Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy were assassinated in 1963 and 1968.

Reflecting on her family losses, Kennedy Smith told USA Today in 2010, "It's the philosophy of our family that you keep moving."

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