Eunice Kennedy Shriver, President John F. Kennedy’s sister, died at the Cape Cod Hospital with her children and grandchildren by her bedside earlier on Tuesday (August 11) in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Eunice had suffered a series of strokes in recent years and was 88 years old.

“She was the light of our lives, a mother, wife, grandmother, sister and aunt who taught us by example and with passion what it means to live a faith-driven life of love and service to others,” the family said.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, Eunice’s brother, who has been battling a brain tumor, said in a statement: “She understood deeply the lesson our mother and father taught us – much is expected of those to whom much has been given. Throughout her extraordinary life, she touched the lives of millions, and for Eunice that was never enough.”

Eunice, who is the mother of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s wife Maria Shriver, is best known for her charity work raising awareness of the mentally disabled, after watching her sister Rosemary’s struggle with mental illness. She also helped found the Special Olympics in the 1960s.

She is survived by her five children, Robert Sargent Shriver III, Maria Shriver, Timothy Perry Shriver, Mark Kennedy Shriver and Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver, as well as 19 grandchildren.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver Pictures

[images: wenn.com]