Bobby Kennedy’s Granddaughter Kyle Dead at 42 After Spinal Cord Injury
Caroline Kennedy Breaks Silence on Tatiana Schlossberg's Death
The Kennedy family is facing another devastating loss.
Kyle Francis Kennedy, the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, died “peacefully” at her Westwood, Massachusetts home Sept. 21, six years after a spinal cord injury left her paralyzed in 2020. She was 42.
Kyle—mom to Conor, 12, and Declan, 10, as well as daughter Josephine, who died shortly after she was born in 2014, with Liam Kerr—will be remembered by her loved ones, per her Burke Funeral Homes obituary, as “blessed with a formidable intellect, dry wit, and beauty.”
Daughter to Michael Kennedy—who died in 1997—and Victoria Denise Gifford, Kyle studied history at Georgetown University before earning two master’s degrees in early education and education policy and management from Pace University and Harvard University, respectively. She dedicated her career to her passion for early childhood education.
“She will be remembered for her devotion to her children Conor, Josephine, and Declan,” her obituary noted, “and her support for educational reform for disadvantaged children and for people living with disabilities.”
In 2019, Kyle ran the Boston Marathon in a “driving rainstorm,” completing the race in under four hours—20 minutes faster than her father’s time.
A year later, unfortunately, Kyle sustained a life-altering spinal cord injury that “resulted in long term paralysis, disability, and other medical challenges.”
“The years that followed brought struggles but Kyle fought to maintain her dry wit and determination through it all, trying to be the best possible mother to her sons and caring for her two beloved, ill-behaved Wheaten terriers,” her obituary noted. “She also began to advocate for people living with disabilities, including testifying at the Massachusetts state house in a hearing on discrimination in disabled health care.”
Burke Funeral Home
In addition to her mother, sons and Kerr, whom her obituary refers to as her “former husband,” Kyle is also survived by her brother Michael Kennedy Jr. and sister Rory Gifford Kennedy.
Kyle’s death comes less than a year after her second-cousin Tatiana Schlossberg—granddaughter to John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis—died in December following a battle with a rare blood cancer.
Tatiana—mom to Edwin, 4, and Josephine, 2, with husband George Moran—was aware of her terminal prognosis and published an essay reflecting on her life and the tragedies that plagued her family.
"For my whole life, I have tried to be good, to be a good student and a good sister and a good daughter, and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry," Tatiana admitted in an essay for The New Yorker last November. “Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family's life, and there's nothing I can do to stop it.”
For a deeper look into the Kennedy family tree, keep reading…
Everett/Shutterstock
Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Kennedy
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy married Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald on Oct. 7, 1914.
Bachrach/Getty Images
By 1932, they had nine children together: Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., John F. Kennedy, Rosemary Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy, Patricia Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Jean Kennedy and Edward Kennedy.
Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.
Born July 25, 1915, Joe Jr. was going to be president, as far as his father was concerned.
He was a delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention and planned to run for Congress after he got out of the Navy. But the 29-year-old and his co-pilot Wilford John Willy were killed Aug. 12, 1944, when explosives they were carrying detonated prematurely while on a bombing run that was part of Operation Aphrodite.
Neither pilot's body was ever recovered and their names are among those on the Tablets of the Missing at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial honoring casualties of World War II.
Mikki Ansin/Getty Images
John F. Kennedy
It was John, born May 29, 1917, who made it to Congress, then became a U.S. senator and ultimately was elected president in 1960.
He married Jacqueline Bouvier on Sept. 12, 1953, and they welcomed daughter Caroline Kennedy on Nov. 27, 1957, and son John F. Kennedy Jr. on Nov. 25, 1960.
A daughter, Arabella, was stillborn in 1956 and son Patrick, born prematurely on Aug. 7, 1963, lived for only 39 hours.
JFK was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, one of the defining events of the 20th century.
Tatiana, Jack, Rose, Edwin, Caroline (Clodagh Kilcoyne/Getty Images)
Caroline Kennedy
Caroline, the U.S. ambassador to Japan during the Obama administration and to Australia for the Biden administration, married Edwin "Ed" Schlossberg in 1986.
They share daughters Rose Kennedy Schlossberg (born June 25, 1988) and Tatiana Kennedy Schlossberg (May 5, 1990) and son John "Jack" Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg (Jan. 19, 1993).
TV producer Rose went to Harvard like her mom and married restaurateur Rory McAuliffe in 2022.
Tatiana—a journalist who didn't know at the time that her 2014 New York Times article about a dead bear being found in Central Park involved her cousin RFK Jr.—graduated from Yale and married college sweetheart George Moran in 2017. They welcomed a son, Edwin Jr., in 2022, and a daughter in 2024.
In November 2025, Tatiana shared in an essay for The New Yorker that she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a rare blood cancer, which her doctors have said is terminal. She died on Dec. 30. She was 35.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Jack Schlossberg
Jack—a Yale alum, graduate of Harvard's JD/MBA program and quite the hoot on social media—spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention and was a political correspondent for Vogue covering the most recent presidential election.
"I am inspired by my family’s legacy of public service,” he told Vogue in 2024. "I take that very seriously, and I want to contribute in my own way. I have big dreams, but I also know that I’m trying to make a positive impact today."
That starts with a run for congress, Jack announcing in November 2025 he would seek a seat representing New York’s 12th congressional district.
Justin Ide
John F. Kennedy Jr.
The former first son, named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 1988, was considered one of the most eligible bachelors on the planet before he married Calvin Klein publicist Carolyn Bessette on Sept. 21, 1996.
In a shattering twist of fate for his oft-grieving family, JFK Jr. died young like his father, his potential snuffed out when he was killed, along with Carolyn and her sister Lauren Bessette, in a plane crash on July 16, 1999.
Keystone/Getty Images
Rosemary Kennedy
Rosemary (at right, with sister Kathleen and mom Rose) was born Sept. 13, 1918.
While she attended a special boarding school for students with learning difficulties, Rosemary had behavioral issues that led to her father's decision to have her undergo a prefrontal lobotomy when she was 23.
Rosemary emerged from the experimental procedure—which was touted as a potential cure for mental illness and Joe did hope it would help her—severely disabled and spent the rest of her life (she lived till Jan. 7, 2005) institutionalized.
"All along I had continued to believe that she could have lived her life as a Kennedy girl, just a little slower," Rose told historian Doris Kearns Goodwin years later. "But then it was all gone in a matter of minutes."
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy
Born Feb. 20, 1920, Kathleen got a kick out of life, hence her jaunty nickname.
She married William Cavendish, the Marquess of Hartington, in a civil ceremony in London on May 6, 1944—against her mother's wishes, as her beloved wasn't Catholic, so the bride's big brother Joe Jr. was the only member of her family who attended the wedding.
A month later, William, a major in the British Army, was killed by a sniper in Belgium.
She remained in England and fell for still-married William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam. Before he could secure a divorce, they both died when the plane carrying them to the French Riviera crashed on May 13, 1948.
Bettmann
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Eunice was born July 10, 1921.
The devoted philanthropist and founder of the Special Olympics married Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. on May 23, 1953.
They had five children—Robert "Bobby" Shriver III (born April 28, 1954), Maria Shriver (Nov. 6, 1955), Timothy (Aug. 29, 1959), Mark (Feb. 17, 1964) and Anthony (July 20, 1965).
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Maria Shriver
Maria wed Arnold Schwarzenegger on April 26, 1986, at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port, Mass.
The power couple reigned as governor and first lady of California from November 2003 until January 2011, but they split up not long after once Arnold confessed to fathering a son, Joseph Baena, with the family's longtime housekeeper.
Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netfix
Katherine Schwarzenegger
When she died at 88, Eunice had 19 grandchildren, including Maria's four kids with her now-ex-husband: Katherine Schwarzenegger (born Dec. 13, 1989), Patrick Schwarzenegger (Sept. 18, 1993), Christina Schwarzenegger (July 23, 1991) and Christopher Schwarzenegger (Sept. 27, 1997).
Katherine wed Chris Pratt on June 8, 2019, and they share three children, Lyla (Aug. 6, 2020), Eloise (May 21, 2022) and Ford (Nov. 8, 2024). The actor is also dad to son Jack (born Aug. 17, 2012) with ex-wife Anna Faris.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Patricia Kennedy Lawford
Patricia, born May 6, 1924, brought the Rat Pack into the family when she married Peter Lawford on April 24, 1954.
Her marriage to the British actor produced sons Christopher Lawford (born in 1955), Sydney Maleia Lawford (1956), Victoria Francis Lawford (1958), and Robin Elizabeth Lawford before they divorced in 1966.
Peter, who died in 1984, was a close confidante of his brother-in-law JFK and is generally credited with introducing the future president to Marilyn Monroe during a visit to the Lawfords' Malibu home.
Patricia passed away in 2006. Her thrice-married son Christopher died after suffering a heart attack in 2018.
Everett/Shutterstock
Robert F. Kennedy
The son known familiarly to the whole country as Bobby Kennedy married Ethel Skakel on June 17, 1950.
They went on to have 11 children: Kathleen, Joseph II, Robert Jr., David, Courtney, Michael, Kerry, Christopher, Maxwell, Douglas and Rory.
Ethel was pregnant with Rory when Bobby was fatally shot on June 6, 1968, shortly after winning the California Democratic primary.
David Kennedy died of a drug overdose on April 25, 1984, at the age of 28. Michael Kennedy was killed on Dec. 31, 1997, when he slammed into a tree while on skis and simultaneously tossing a football around during a family trip to Aspen, Colo. The 37-year-old shared three children with wife Victoria Gifford.
Her husband died when their eldest child was only 16, but Ethel Kennedy went on to be a grandmother of 34. Two of her grandchildren have died: Courtney and husband Paul Hill's daughter Saoirse Hill, 22, in 2019 of an accidental drug overdose and Kathleen and husband David Townsend's daughter Maeve Kennedy McKean, 40, in a 2020 canoeing accident.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
RFK Jr., born Jan. 17, 1954, is a thrice-married father of six.
He shares son Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy III (born 1984) and daughter Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy (born 1988) with first wife Emily Black.
They divorced in 1994 after 12 years of marriage.
Amaryllis Fox/Instagram
Robert F. Kennedy III
RFK III has been married to CIA analyst turned author and TV host Amaryllis Fox since 2017.
They share daughter Bobby (born Jan. 7, 2019) and son Cassius Watts Thoreau Kennedy (Aug. 30, 2021), as well as Amaryllis' daughter Zoë from a previous relationship.
Andrew Toth/Getty Images
Kick Kennedy
"I like to say life is just a collection of experiences—some good, some bad—and the more you have the better," the Stanford grad told Town & Country in 2012.
And merely knowing Ben Affleck "in passing," as a source put it, brought Kick Kennedy to the top of the trending bar in August 2024 days after Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from the actor.
Affleck's rep was quick to shut down romance speculation, telling E! News, "Everything about him and Kick is untrue."
So nothing about being a Kennedy had really changed in a decade. Or a century.
"People ask me, 'What's it like to be a Kennedy?'" she told T&C. "Maybe it's just the temperature of the water, but I'm just like, 'I have no idea.' When I see my face or name in the tabloids, I get a knot in my stomach. It's just not me—it's reading something that's not real."
But she did feel a kinship with the great aunt she was named for, who died two years before her father was born.
"It's funny how similar we are," Kick mused. "She was fun and social and a performer in many ways."
Stewart Cook/Shutterstock
RFK Jr. married Mary Richardson in 1994 and they went on to have four children: Conor Richardson Kennedy (born July 25 ,1994), Kyra LeMoyne Kennedy (Aug. 22, 1995), William Finbar "Finn" Kennedy (Nov. 8, 1997) and Aidan Caohman Vieques Kennedy (July 13, 2001).
The couple were legally separated when Mary died by suicide in 2012.
Rob Latour/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images
Father and sons: Conor, Aidan and RFK III.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Conor Kennedy
Conor has maintained a fairly low profile, high-profile activism and other exploits aside, since rocketing to fame as an 18-year-old Harvard student and happened to bring Taylor Swift home to meet the family.
Their romance only lasted a few months, and Conor went on to grow up and graduate from Georgetown Law School. But, the headlines were made.
"Taylor Swift's ex Conor Kennedy" is now engaged to singer Giulia Be.
Thomas Razzano/BFA.com/Shutterstock
Kyra Kennedy
Kyra, a regular among the high-fashion set, lives in Milan.
She said in an Aug. 27, 2024, video posted in partnership with Elle and Bvlgari that she's working on a project in memory of her late mother.
"Have I experienced a rebirth in my life?" she asks in the clip. "Yes, I definitely have. As a little girl, I was one person. And when I became a young adult, I did a complete 180."
Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
RFK Jr. married Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines in 2014.
The actress shares daughter Catherine Young (born March 8, 2004) with ex-husband Paul Young.
Kick Kennedy/Instagram
In wishing her dad a happy Father's Day in 2018, Kick wrote on Instagram, "Thanks for giving me all these wacky brothers and sisters!"
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala
Kerry Kennedy
Ethel and RFK's seventh child shares three daughters—twins Mariah Kennedy-Cuomo and Cara Kennedy Cuomo (born in 1995) and Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo (born in 1997)—with ex-husband Andrew Cuomo.
Kerry and Andrew, who was governor of New York from 2011 to 2021, married in 1990 and separated in 2003 before divorcing in 2005.
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Jean Kennedy Smith
Born Feb. 20, 1928, the eighth of Joe and Rose's nine kids, Jean founded the VSA Kennedy Arts Center and served as U.S. Ambassador to Ireland during the Clinton administration.
She married Stephen Edward Smith, a strategist on JFK's presidential campaign, on May 19, 1956. They shared sons Stephen Smith Jr. and William Smith and daughters Amanda Smith and Kym Smith.
Jean died June 17, 2020, having outlived all of her siblings.
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Edward "Ted" Kennedy
Sen. Ted Kennedy, more scandalous than 90 percent of his family put together, shared three children with first wife Joan Bennett: Kara Kennedy (born Feb. 27, 1960), Edward Kennedy Jr. (Sept. 26, 1961) and Patrick Kennedy II (July 14, 1967).
He and Joan divorced in 1982 after 24 years of marriage and he wed Victoria Reggie in 1992.
Kara suffered a fatal heart attack on Sept. 16, 2011, two years after her father died. Joan died on Oct. 8, 2025.
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.