"SHE SET OUT TO CHANGE THE WORLD"

EUNICE KENNEDY, JFK'S SISTER, BORN IN BROOKLINE

Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) On July 10, 1921, Eunice Mary Kennedy*, sister of future POTUS John F. Kennedy, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts.  She was the fifth child of Mr. & Mrs. Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.

Eunice was educated at the Convent of The Sacred Heart, Manhattanville College & Stanford University, 1943.  She married Sargent Shriver in 1953 & became executive vice-president of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation in 1957.

Upon her death in 2009, the Shriver family issued a statement which included these words...

"She set out to change the world and to change us, and she did that and more."

*Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver (1921-2009) founded the Special Olympics, a sports organization for persons with physical and intellectual disabilities.  

In addition to many other awards, EMKS was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1984.

 

 

Eunice Kennedy Shriver

"SHE SET OUT TO CHANGE THE WORLD & TO CHANGE US"

JFK'S SISTER EUNICE MARRIES SARGENT SHRIVER

New York City (JFK+50) On May 23, 1953, Eunice Kennedy*, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and sister of Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy,  was married to Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. at St. Patrick's Cathedral here in New York City.

Francis Cardinal Spellman officiated the nuptial mass.  The bride wore a white Christian Dior gown with a fitted bodice.

Upon Eunice's passing, the Shriver family issued this statement...

"She was a living prayer, a living advocate, a living center of power.  She set out to change the world and to change us and she did that and more."

*Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver (1921-2009) was born in Brookline, MA & graduated from Stanford University.  EMKS worked in the State Dept & Justice Dept & also did social work.  She was an advocate for children's health & disabilities.  Eunice founded the Special Olympics in 1968.  

Governor Frank Clement, Rose Kennedy

Eunice and Sargent Shriver

Founding of the JFK Center

 May 29, 1965

www.kc.vanderbilt.edu

NO PHYSICAL OR MENTAL BARRIER CAN RESTRAIN THE POWER OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 2005

EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER BORN 95 YEARS AGO TODAY

Brookline, Massachusetts (JFK+50) The sister of President John F. Kennedy and the fifth child of Ambassador Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy Shriver*, was born 95 years ago today.

Eunice attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Manhattanville College and Stanford University.  She married Sargent Shriver, who became JFK's Peace Corps Director, in 1953.

In 1960, Eunice was active in her brother Jack's campaign for President.

A longtime advocate of children's health and disability issues, she was a founder of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in 1962.

Eunice convened the first Special Olympic Games held at Chicago's Soldier Field on July 20, 1968.  She administered the following oath to a thousand participants from 26 states and Canada...

"Let me win,
but if I cannot win,
Let me be brave
in the attempt."

According the www.eunicekennedy.org/, there are more than 3 million participants in the Special Olympics today, representing all 50 states and 181 countries.

In 1984, Eunice Kennedy Shriver was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan.  Upon her death, President Barack Obama said...

"She taught our nation--and our world--that no physical or mental barrier can restrain the power of the human spirit."

*Eunice Kennedy Shriver (1921-2009) was born in Brookline, Massachusetts and died at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis on August 10, 2009.

SOURCE

"Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Her Story," www.eunicekennedyshriver.org/

Eunice Kennedy Shriver

March 3, 2008

National Institute of Child Health Photo 

Eunice with Special Needs Children

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

By David Lenz (2009)