Kennedy Sister Dies At 86

AP ^ | Friday, January 7, 2005 | LOLITA C. BALDOR

[West Coast Conservative]

WASHINGTON -- Rosemary Kennedy, a sister of John F. Kennedy who was born mentally retarded and lived most of her life in an institution after undergoing a lobotomy, died Friday, her family said. She was 86.

Kennedy, the inspiration for the Special Olympics spearheaded by the Kennedy family, had been a patient since 1949 at St. Coletta School for Exceptional Children in Jefferson, Wis. She was the third child and first daughter of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, born a year after her brother became president.

In 1941, Joseph Kennedy, worried his daughter's mild mental retardation would lead her into situations that could damage the family's reputation, arranged for Rosemary to have a lobotomy. She was 23.

"Rosemary was a woman, and there was a dread fear of pregnancy, disease and disgrace," author Laurence Leamer wrote in his book "The Kennedy Women: The Saga of an American Family." He wrote that Rosemary, whose retardation possibly stemmed from brain damage at birth, had taken to sneaking out of the convent where she was staying at the time.

[Jean S]

Weird. St. Coletta's is about 30 miles from where I live. Rumor had it in this area that she died years ago.

[Military family member]

The author also has no evidence to attribute to this claim. As my father is fond of saying..."In God we Trust..Everyone else needs data."

[Servant of the 9]

Rosemary Kennedy, a sister of John F. Kennedy who was born mentally retarded and lived most of her life in an institution after undergoing a lobotomy, died Friday, her family said. She was 86.

Yeah, sure.

She wasn't retarded at all, but she had the same morals as the rest of the clan. Old Joe thought her sleeping around would hurt the boys politically, so he had her brain scrambled with an icepick (Lobotomized) and stuck his home made vegetable in with the nuns to cover it all up.

SO9

[F16Fighter]

Doctors told Joseph Kennedy that a lobotomy, a medical procedure in which the frontal lobes of a patient's brain are scraped away, would help his daughter, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Rosemary's younger sister, recalled later.

I'm sure the doctor's "wink-wink" part of the account is omitted.

[West Coast Conservative]

The idiot writer just changed the article.

Kennedy, the inspiration for the Special Olympics spearheaded by the Kennedy family, had been a patient since 1949 at St. Coletta School for Exceptional Children in Jefferson, Wis. She was the third child and first daughter of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, born a year after her brother John.

(Substitutes second paragraph to correct Rosemary born a year after John Kennedy, instead of the year after Kennedy became president.)

[mwyounce]

The AP corrected this... it should've said a year after John was born:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=533&e=2&u=/ap/20050108/ap_on_re_us/obit_rosemary_kennedy

But now the headline reads "Retarded Kennedy Sister Dies at 86"... seems a little insensitive to use that as the headline...

Rest in peace, Rosemary.

[Proud Conservative2]

you wrote this:
She was the third child and first daughter of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, born a year after her brother became president.

the article said this:
She was the third child and first daughter of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, born a year after her brother John.

?????

[Walkingfeather]

wouldnt this make her teddy kennedys sister .... too?

[silent_jonny]

"But now the headline reads "Retarded Kennedy Sister Dies at 86"... seems a little insensitive to use that as the headline..."

Well at least they said "retarded" instead of "'tarded".

[RobbyS]

A crime was done.

[Maigret]

schwarz leaves the impression that rose was involved too

I read long ago that this was another thing Old Joe Kennedy just did and then told Rose about it. For Rose to have put up with all Joseph Kennedy got up to, one would think he'd had her lobotomized as well.

[Torie]

No, the lady was definitely "simple" from the getgo as I recall. Old Joe than proceeded to strip much of her humanity away from her, for whatever motives, an immoral and disgusting act, but one which at the time, was I think rather well accepted, because folks were terminally ignorant about much that we are less ignorant about today. For all the hue and cry about declining moral standards, in many ways, the standards today are considerably higher than back in the good of days. Much higher.

[Proud Conservative2]

sorry, I just saw the correction.


(Substitutes second paragraph to correct Rosemary born a year after John Kennedy, instead of the year after Kennedy became president.)

[TASMANIANRED]

She may be the only innocent Kennedy.

This article needs proof reading. It reads like she was born in 1961 but confined since 1949.

[dc-zoo]

I think the writer of this article (Lolita) is also retarded.

[SuziQ]

Ah yes, old Joe Kennedy, whatta guy! /sarcasm
Rest in true peace, Rosemary.

[SamAdams76]

Incredible how incompetent the AP is. I'm just a layman and I could do a much better job than the proofreaders at the Associated Press, who by the way, probably all have Ivy League degrees.

I picked up the error regarding Rosemary being born a year after her brother became president immediately and that it should have referred to the fact she was born a year after her famous brother. And so did many other Freepers who posted here. Yet this somehow eluded all those overpaid "journalists."

[ken21]

i don't know.

if you are correct, then the author of the book that i mention above is lying.

i don't own the schwartz book; i got it at the library and read it a year ago.

[The Greek]

A crime was done. I am from Mass. and have lived through all the hateful things this family has done. However, what the old man did to his own child for fear that she would embarrass her brothers (who in their own right would embarrass themselves) is unbelievable. Rest In Peace Rosemary....