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.
May she rest in peace.
One of my favorite questions for a Libtard who supports the Fat Little Rich Kid is to ask if the person driving that night at Chappaquidick had been named Nixon or Helms would they still consider it a non-event? For some reason that just makes them angry.
Hard not to feel self-righetous when comfronted by Kennedy and his syncophants. I may have a log in my eye but obviously Kennedy has a bridge in him. He is a man who has been rotting from the inside out for almost forty years. His only sign of repentance was his half-hearted attempt to run for president in 1980.
You, me and Edward M. Kennedy aside, Charles Pierce’ fatuousness is simply stunning.
He paid them off...
i heard he paid them off. Where did you read otherwise?
Revisiting Chappaquiddick After 35 Years
...In terms of a settlement, the Kopechnes eventually received $140,904 ($90,904 from Kennedy and $50,000 from his insurance coverage).
MaryJo will be waving as every single member of the Kennedy clan passes by her on their way to Hell.
I am sure I saw it on on of the 60 minutes type shows. I remember thinking how sorry he was that he never contacted the family. According to post #46 they did receive a rather paltry settlement.
Very sad life they had. Very sad.
RIP
The Kopechnes received a large settlement from the Kennedys after the incident. That's why Kennedy was never charged.
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..... by TEDDY.
There I fixed it!
er....there's a little bit more to the event than that.
...having, at that time, suddenly come into an unanticipated, financial windfall sufficient to build a new home.
Mary Jo: But Teddy, I think I’m pregnant!
Ted: Well, Mary Jo, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there!
Make that 50 years, at least. While it wasn’t murder, Teddy did get expelled from Harvard for cheating and then for paying someone to cheat for him.
He went into the Army, came back, and was once again enrolled in Harvard, bought and paid for. I remember when it was revealed, several years after it happened and he wanted to run for Jack’s former Senate seat.
Here’s a post from when her dad died: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1049467/posts
That decision isn't yours to make but perhaps in your omniscience you can tell us how your particular judgment is going to turn out.
He was the baby of the family, fifteen years younger than Jack, for instance, and spoiled rotten. Then there is that tendency for the line to run to seed. Joe Jr. was the ablest, than Jack, then Bobby, and then you-know-who. All spoiled in some way, but Teddy cracked under the load. Bobby’s death probably broke him. He—thank God—has never aspired to any thing higher than his safe seat in the senate since he ran off that bridge.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.