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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

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.


41 posted on 01/13/2008 12:48:22 PM PST by Robwin
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

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.


42 posted on 01/13/2008 12:53:23 PM PST by RobbyS
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To: RobbyS

You, me and Edward M. Kennedy aside, Charles Pierce’ fatuousness is simply stunning.


43 posted on 01/13/2008 12:56:48 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Being an idealist excuses nothing. Hitler was an idealist.)
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To: wardaddy

He paid them off...


44 posted on 01/13/2008 1:31:45 PM PST by Hildy (You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep cause reality is finally better than your dreams)
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To: ontap

i heard he paid them off. Where did you read otherwise?


45 posted on 01/13/2008 1:32:21 PM PST by Hildy (You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep cause reality is finally better than your dreams)
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To: Hildy; wardaddy; ontap
From this thread....

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).

46 posted on 01/13/2008 1:36:53 PM PST by mewzilla (In politics the middle way is none at all. John Adams)
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To: Borges

MaryJo will be waving as every single member of the Kennedy clan passes by her on their way to Hell.


47 posted on 01/13/2008 1:37:32 PM PST by Thumper1960 (Unleash the Dogs of War as a Minority, or perish as a party.)
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To: Hildy

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.


48 posted on 01/13/2008 1:42:06 PM PST by ontap (Just another backstabbing conservative)
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To: Borges

Very sad life they had. Very sad.

RIP


49 posted on 01/13/2008 1:44:30 PM PST by tioga
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To: Owen
How was that construction funded?

The Kopechnes received a large settlement from the Kennedys after the incident. That's why Kennedy was never charged.

50 posted on 01/13/2008 1:53:17 PM PST by FrdmLvr
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To: BlessedBeGod

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!


51 posted on 01/13/2008 1:54:53 PM PST by angcat ("IF YOU DON'T STAND BEHIND OUR TROOPS, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO STAND IN FRONT OF THEM")
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To: Borges
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.

er....there's a little bit more to the event than that.

52 posted on 01/13/2008 1:57:11 PM PST by bannie ("Beware!!! clintons CHEAT!")
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To: Borges
After Mary Jo’s death, Gwen and Joseph built a home in Swiftwater where they lived for nearly 30 years.

...having, at that time, suddenly come into an unanticipated, financial windfall sufficient to build a new home.

53 posted on 01/13/2008 1:59:12 PM PST by bannie ("Beware!!! clintons CHEAT!")
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To: Borges

Mary Jo: But Teddy, I think I’m pregnant!

Ted: Well, Mary Jo, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there!


54 posted on 01/13/2008 2:00:24 PM PST by TRY ONE (NUKE the unborn gay whales!)
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To: Borges
Inquest Exhibit #14.

What amount of time elapsed between the original water level in the diagram to the final water level in the diagram ? Or how long would the air supply last before a young woman in good health suffocated to death after using up the air trapped in the pocket of air ?
55 posted on 01/13/2008 2:09:56 PM PST by pyx (Rule#1.The LEFT lies.Rule#2.See Rule#1. IF THE LEFT CONTROLS THE LANGUAGE, IT CONTROLS THE ARGUMENT.)
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To: caver
Yea, and Ole Teddy Boy will outlive them all.

Considering how pickled Swimmer is, should that be a surprise?
56 posted on 01/13/2008 2:17:21 PM PST by tanknetter
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To: RobbyS

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.


57 posted on 01/13/2008 2:19:18 PM PST by Rte66
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To: Borges

Here’s a post from when her dad died: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1049467/posts


58 posted on 01/13/2008 2:22:35 PM PST by Born Conservative (Chronic Positivity - http://jsher.livejournal.com/)
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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.

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.

59 posted on 01/13/2008 2:29:05 PM PST by A.A. Cunningham
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To: Rte66

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.


60 posted on 01/13/2008 2:58:18 PM PST by RobbyS
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