Sen. Edward Kennedy has put out a statement about the death of his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Shriver died Tuesday morning in Cape Cod.
“Eunice is now with God in heaven. My sister Jean and I, and our entire family, will miss her with all our hearts. I know that our parents and brothers and sisters who have gone before are filled with joy to have her by their side again.”
Kennedy, who is 77, recalled his earliest memory of his sister as a young girl “with great humor, sharp wit, and a boundless passion to make a difference,” and said her compassion for people with disabilities, inspired by her disabled sister Rosemary, was instrumental in the creation of the Special Olympics and the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, now has just one surviving sibling, Jean Kennedy Smith.
“She understood deeply the lesson our mother and father taught us — much is expected of those to whom much has been given,” Kennedy said. “Throughout her extraordinary life, she touched the lives of millions, and for Eunice that was never enough. ”
