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Kopechne mother mourned
Times Leader ^ | 01/13/08 | Edward Lewis

Posted on 01/13/2008 9:59:24 AM PST by Borges

Daughter Mary Jo killed in 1969 accident while riding in car of U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

PLYMOUTH – A mother who lost her daughter in a well-publicized automobile accident in Massachusetts nearly 39 years ago was remembered Saturday as a caring woman who loved talking, drinking coffee and making pancakes for breakfast.

Gwen L. Kopechne, 89, died on Dec. 20 at the Valley Crest Nursing Home in Plains Township.

A small gathering of family and friends attended a Memorial Mass in her honor at All Saints Church in Plymouth.

Family photographs pasted on a board were placed near the altar, and two pictures showing Gwen, her late husband, Joseph, and their only daughter, Mary Jo, were placed on a table beneath a Pastoral candle.

Gwen was laid to rest in St. Vincent’s Cemetery in Larksville next to her husband and Mary Jo, whose life immortalized the family when she was killed in the accident on Chappaquiddick Island on July 19, 1969.

The 28-year-old woman and Democratic campaign worker was a passenger in a car driven by U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Kennedy was driving the young woman from a party when he drove off a bridge and into a pond. Kennedy escaped with minor injuries but Mary Jo was killed.

Circumstances surrounding the accident and events that followed evolved into a cloud of suspicion that continues today.

The accident has been the subject of many books, documentaries and an inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has its Chappaquiddick investigative files online.

The tragic event on Chappaquiddick or Kennedy wasn’t mentioned during the memorial service.

Instead, family paid homage to Gwen, who was born in Edwardsville on June 8, 1918, and grew up during the Depression, falling in love and marrying her high school sweetheart, Joseph.

Gwen and Joseph lived the American dream and devoted their lives to Mary Jo, their family said.

After Mary Jo’s death, Gwen and Joseph built a home in Swiftwater where they lived for nearly 30 years.

A homemaker, Gwen loved sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee, talking to people and making pancakes for breakfast for family who stayed the night.

What made Gwen a strong woman was her strength to learn and not dwell on the past, her family said.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: 110th; chappaquiddick; kennedyfamily; kopechne; maryjokopechne; obituary; swimmer; swimming; tedkennedy
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To: Borges

Rest in peace dear woman. Your life was destroyed by the curse of the Kennedys, I hope you can find peace now.


21 posted on 01/13/2008 11:02:19 AM PST by Bulldawg Fan (Victory is the last thing Murtha and his fellow Defeatists want.)
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To: Borges

The Kopechne family is finally reunited. I hope they’re at the Pearly Gates when Tub-a-dub shows up, and is frog-marched to Hades.


22 posted on 01/13/2008 11:02:43 AM PST by mass55th
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To: i_dont_chat

Last I heard they never received one cent and were never contacted by the swimmer.


23 posted on 01/13/2008 11:04:15 AM PST by ontap (Just another backstabbing conservative)
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To: i_dont_chat

I read somewhere that the Kennedy machine slimed them.


24 posted on 01/13/2008 11:05:30 AM PST by Mr Rogers (Without limited government, there is no religious freedom!)
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To: Borges

Meanwhile, her daughter’s killer is still at large.


25 posted on 01/13/2008 11:05:44 AM PST by ozzymandus
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To: caver

You bet there is. It’s called “judgment” and it’s in the Bible.

Check out my profile.


26 posted on 01/13/2008 11:15:48 AM PST by ROTB (Front Runner=rich guy who doesn't hate evil and strives to offend no one, & WILL SELL YOU OUT.)
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To: Borges

At least now, she knows what really happened the night her daughter died.

She lived every day with a Mary Jo-sized hole in her heart, thanks to The Swimmer.


27 posted on 01/13/2008 11:19:57 AM PST by exit82 (How do you handle Hillary? You Huma her.)
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To: Owen
How was that construction funded?

Kennedy blood money.

28 posted on 01/13/2008 11:21:17 AM PST by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: Borges
Circumstances surrounding the accident and events that followed evolved into a cloud of suspicion that continues today.

If a Kennedy wasn't the driver, it would be called vehicular homicide, not an accident.

29 posted on 01/13/2008 11:22:25 AM PST by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: Borges

Every time I see Ted Kennedy, I think of Mary Jo. RIP


30 posted on 01/13/2008 12:14:32 PM PST by Uncle Hal
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To: caver

I hate to tell you but Teddy will die “Forgiven” and go sit on the right hand of God. Poor Mary Jo may have died in her sins and, well let it go.


31 posted on 01/13/2008 12:18:58 PM PST by AEMILIUS PAULUS (It is a shame that when these people give a riot)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

WTF? This is a joke, right?


32 posted on 01/13/2008 12:22:15 PM PST by ItisaReligionofPeace
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Comment #33 Removed by Moderator

To: Mr Rogers

Kennedy prevented the accident from ever being fully investigated. The famous “inquest” never got off the ground, because his lawyers demanded the right to attend and question every witness. Of course, it made no sense that this demand stopped the inquest, except Kennedy influence.

Kennedy’s actions (leaving the scene, leaving her to die, showing up the next morning after a good night’s sleep),was despicable by any measure.


34 posted on 01/13/2008 12:28:36 PM PST by Williams
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To: ItisaReligionofPeace

No, it’s not a joke. It actually appeared in fawning (quelle supris) Boston Globe Magazine “profile” of the senior senator, circa 2003. Clearly, there are no grown ups on Morrisey Boulevard.

Charles Pierce wanted to sew up the prize for most fatuous MSM media quote of the new century early and make a strong bid the third millenium prize.

It’s gonna be hard act to follow.


35 posted on 01/13/2008 12:30:40 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Being an idealist excuses nothing. Hitler was an idealist.)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets
Through his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought comfort to her in her old age.”

How could he manage to pen those lines? If he had not left her to die because he was too drunk to present himself to the authorities?

36 posted on 01/13/2008 12:35:51 PM PST by RobbyS
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets
Through his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought comfort to her in her old age.”

How could he manage to pen those lines? If he had not left her to die because he was too drunk to present himself to the authorities?

37 posted on 01/13/2008 12:35:52 PM PST by RobbyS
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets
Through his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought comfort to her in her old age.”

How could he manage to pen those lines? If he had not left her to die because he was too drunk to present himself to the authorities?

38 posted on 01/13/2008 12:35:53 PM PST by RobbyS
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To: AEMILIUS PAULUS
I hate to tell you but Teddy will die “Forgiven” and go sit on the right hand of God.

I disagree, you have assumed that Kennedy has confessed and atoned for his sins. His efforts to continue the killing of the unborn leads me to believe otherwise.

I lay my faith at the feet of a just God.

39 posted on 01/13/2008 12:38:32 PM PST by Last Dakotan
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To: RobbyS

See #35.


40 posted on 01/13/2008 12:40:02 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Being an idealist excuses nothing. Hitler was an idealist.)
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