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RFK Granddaughter's Death Is Latest Tragedy for Kennedy Dynasty

The Kennedy dynasty has been touched repeatedly by tragedy — most recently the death of Robert F. Kennedy's granddaughter Saoirse Kennedy Hill at age 22.

Some notable other instances:

JOSEPH P. KENNEDY JR.: Died in a plane crash during World War II. He was 29.

ROSEMARY KENNEDY: Had been institutionalized since 1941 because she was mentally disabled and due to the effects of a failed lobotomy. She died in 2005.

KATHLEEN KENNEDY: Married William John Robert Cavendish, the Marquess of Hartington. He was killed in World War II. She later died in a plane crash in 1948 at age 28.

PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY: Assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. He was 46.

  • Son PATRICK was born prematurely in 1963 and died two days later, three months before his father's assassination.
  • Son JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. was killed with his wife and sister-in-law when their small plane crashed off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, in 1999. He was 38.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY: Assassinated in Los Angeles in June 1968. He was 42.

  • Son DAVID died in 1984 of a drug overdose in a hotel after being ousted from the family vacation home at Palm Beach. He was 28.
  • Son JOSEPH (Joe) was involved in a 1973 car accident that left a female passenger paralyzed for life.
  • Son MICHAEL was killed in a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado. He was 39.

EDWARD M. KENNEDY: Drove a car off a bridge on Massachusetts' Chappaquiddick Island in 1969 after a party, killing aide Mary Jo Kopechne. She was 28.

  • Son EDWARD Jr.'s right leg had to be amputated in 1973 because of cancer.
  • Son PATRICK, a former congressman, sought treatment for cocaine addiction as a teenager in 1986.

MARY RICHARDSON KENNEDY, estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., died by suicide in May 2012. She was 52.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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