Joseph Kopechne Obituary (father of Mary Jo)

Times Leader ^ | 12/31/03

[Born Conservative]

Posted on Wed, Dec. 31, 2003

Kopechne, Joseph

December 24, 2003 Joseph A. Kopechne, 90, of Swiftwater, died Dec. 24 in Stroud Manor Nursing Home, East Stroudsburg.

Born April 25, 1913, in Forty Fort, he was the son of Frank and Mary (Leitinger) Kopetchny. He served in the Civilian Conservation Corps. He worked at the shipyards in New Jersey during World War II and was employed by the Washington National Life Insurance Co. He attended Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church, Tannersville, and was a member of the Knights of Columbus.

He was preceded in death by his only child, MaryJo.

Surviving, in addition to his wife of more than 60 years, the former Gwen L. Jennings, are his brother, Raymond; many nieces and nephews.

A memorial Mass will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Vincent's de Paul Roman Catholic Church, Church Street, Plymouth, with the Rev. Donald Williams officiating.

Funeral arrangements are by Kielty-Moran Funeral Home, 87 Washington Ave., Plymouth.

[mel]

Well, that's one way to look at it.

[Sloth]

Not really. That's pretty standard for an obituary.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

That has to be the ironic statement of the century.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Mary Jo did not die in vain. Were it not for her death, Teddy K may well have become president.

Words worthy repeating. That brave lady saved this nation from suffering another Kennedy.

[why you chasin me]

I've always wondered: Was his first name 'Little' and his middle name 'Elian'? Because that's the only way you ever saw it. Little Elian Gonzales.

[A.A. Cunningham]

More than likely, Kopechne suffocated. The diver who recovered her body from the backseat of the car, John Farrar, had enough experience with drownings to know.

- Farrar repeatedly expressed the opinion that Mary Jo Kopechne had lived for some time underwater by breathing a bubble of trapped air, and that she could have been saved if rescue personnel had been promptly called to the scene. He had equipment to administer air to a trapped person directly or to augment an air pocket inside a submerged automobile.

- "There was a great possibility that we could have saved Mary Jo's life," Farrar said. "There would have been an airlock in the car - there always is in such submersions - that would have kept her alive. If we had been called, I would have reached the scene in 45 minutes. I say 45 minutes because it was dark. ( The daylight recovery had taken 30 minutes ). The lack of light might have caused a delay of 15 minutes."

[LisaMalia]

“If she had lived, Mary Jo Kopechne would be 62 years old. Through his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought comfort to her in her old age.” – Charles Pierce, January 5, Boston Globe Magazine

Yeah, it's for real. Difficult to believe anyone is that utterly STUPID and cold-hearted, isn't it?

[why you chasin me]

Oop, typo: Gonzalez.

[RightWhale]

out of historical interest

Rightly so.

[cynicom]

The man took money from the Kennedys to remain silent.

[KantianBurke]

To be fair I'm sure Teddy's handlers had the following conversation with the father: "So sorry that your daughter is dead. Here's soome hush money. Oh and if you turn it down and try to pursue legal action we'll spread so many lies, innuendos and half truths about your daughter being the village slut that her memory will never be cleansed even with extra strength detergent."

[cynicom]

I seem to recall the figure of $100,000 for "expenses".

[KantianBurke]

Boy, only 100k? Looks like Teddy made two killings!

[Born Conservative]

The death releases Teddy from a long time, on-going financial obligation.

Not yet; the obit states that he is survived by his wife.

[mel]

When you see those actual drawings and realize that she wasn't that deep, it would have been I think a fairly easy rescue compared to going in a lake or river. What a scumbag.

[Britton J Wingfield]

Charles Pierce writes comedy and political satire, so I would be very suprised if he was serious about that.

[mikeb704]

From 1994:

25 years later, Chappaquiddick remains mystery

Two important events happened 25 years ago this week. Man walked on the moon and Mary Jo Kopechne died near Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. Ironically, the young woman’s death may well have had a bigger impact on the history of America and the world.

In the late 1960s Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D.-Mass.) could have had his party’s presidential nomination for the asking. With the ghosts of two murdered brothers and the attendant sympathy surrounding him, Kennedy had a reasonable expectation of becoming president.

Then came Chappaquiddick and the probable end of any possibility of Teddy Kennedy moving into the White House. Questions about the death of Mary Jo Kopechne remain unanswered.

She and five other women, all in their 20s and unmarried, attended a party in a rented cottage with Teddy and five other men. All the men, except for the 60-year-old chauffeur, were married, but none of their wives was present.

It was some party. Refreshments for the twelve included three half gallons of vodka, four fifths of scotch, two bottles of rum and two cases of beer. Kennedy denied he was under the influence when he and Miss Kopechne left the party together.

He said he took a wrong turn and drove his car into eight feet of water. He got of the car, returned to the party and brought two other men to the scene of the accident. When they were unable to rescue the girl, he told the others he would call the police.

He did not. Instead, he returned to his motel, spoke to an employee there, began making telephone calls to associates and went to sleep. All that time Mary Jo Kopechne remained in the car.

Possibly she could have been saved. The captain of the Edgartown, Massachusetts scuba team believes she may have stayed alive in an air pocket for several hours.

The next morning the car and the girl’s body were found. When Kennedy finally completed an accident report, he didn’t even know her name, referring to her simply as “Miss Mary ___.”

There was a conflict on what time the accident had occurred. A sheriff said he had seen Kennedy’s car hours after Kennedy said the accident occurred. The senator said he based his estimate on the clock of the rented car he was driving. When it was determined the car didn’t have a clock, Kennedy changed his story.

A grand jury investigated, but the results were already decided. Said the district attorney, “I feel sorry for him (Kennedy). What’s all this business about a conflicting statement? That’s nothing! Never mind the press. Never mind being president. Let’s save him.”

Senator Kennedy didn’t want the girl’s body exhumed for an autopsy. Fortunately for him, neither did the judge responsible for making the decision. Described as a “party-line Democrat of limited judicial gifts,” the judge maintained a bust of President Kennedy on display in his chambers.

The jury foreman later complained, “Things might have been different,” if the grand jury had been allowed access to necessary information, “but we couldn’t get our hands on it.”

Another member of the grand jury admitted, “We were dupes and boobs and let ourselves be manipulated. Nobody ever briefed us properly about what we could do.” Bragged the district attorney later, “There’s no question in my mind that the grand jury would have brought an indictment against Ted Kennedy for manslaughter, if I had given them the case.”

The senator gave a televised speech in which he denied any wrongdoing. The speech was so full of contradictions from what was already known that its author, Ted Sorensen tried to distance himself: “To the best of my knowledge there are no misstatements of facts.”

Attorney Melvin Belli was on target when he said, “The irony is, the public’s impression that the JFK autopsy was unsatisfactory, and now Teddy Kennedy’s female companion gets none. The Kennedy family is hiding the actions of those two days. They’ve gone around parading themselves as sponsors of the little people and yet that little person in the back seat of a car goes unexamined to the grave.”

The people of Massachusetts continue to keep Kennedy in the Senate, where he has long been a liberal pinup boy. As a member of the Judiciary Committee he’s allowed to pass judgment on lesser mortals like Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas.

The truth of what happened at Chappaquiddick 25 years ago will never be known. It died with Mary Jo Kopechne.

Michael M. Bates: My Side of the Swamp

[ZULU]

Good point. Maybe they should have added that to his obituary. But then, the Kopechnes must have been Democrats, and they live in Kennedyland where everyone, apparently, is under the thumb of fat Teddy.

[onyx]

Mary Jo did not die in vain. Were it not for her death, Teddy K may well have become president.

If your comment isn't the quote of the day, I can't wait to see what is.

[onyx]

Excellent post. I've not seen that illustration before. Thanks for posting it.

ETOM: take a look at #26.