Joan Bennett Kennedy obit

Joan Bennett Kennedy, Former Wife of Late Senator Ted Kennedy, Dead at 89

 

She was not on the list.

Joan Bennett Kennedy, the first wife of the late Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), has died at the age of 89, according to the Boston Globe.

Joan, who was married to Ted from 1958 to 1983, had three children with the late senator: Kara, Ted Jr., and Patrick.

Patrick was formerly a Congressman from Rhode Island.

She stood by her husband through the Chappaquiddick scandal, which ended in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, and Ted’s unsuccessful presidential bid in the 1980 Democrat primary seemed to seal the end of the marriage.

BREAKING: Joan Kennedy, wife of Sen. Ted Kennedy who was by his side during Chappaquiddick scandal, dead at 89 pic.twitter.com/ScXVvphWi7

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 8, 2025

Per AP:

Joan B. Kennedy, the former wife of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy who endured a long and troubled marriage marked by family tragedies, her husband’s infidelities and her own struggles with alcoholism and mental health, died on Wednesday. She was 89.

The former Joan Bennett was a model and classically-trained pianist when she married Ted Kennedy in 1958. Their lives would change unimaginably over the next decade and a half. Brother-in-law John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960 and assassinated three years later. Brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy served as attorney general under JFK, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1964 and assassinated while seeking the presidency.

Her husband was elected to the U.S. Senate and became among the country’s most respected legislators despite initial misgivings that he was capitalizing on his family connections. But Ted Kennedy also lived through scandals of his own making. In 1969, the car he was driving plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, killing his young female passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne.

Her son, Ted Kennedy Jr., said in a statement, “I will always admire my mother for the way that she faced up to her challenges with grace, courage, humility, and honesty.”

Joan published the book The Joy of Classical Music: A Guide for You and Your Family in 1992 and was known for a lifetime of work with children’s charities.

In 1992, she published the book The Joy of Classical Music: A Guide for You and Your Family. Kennedy worked with children's charities, remained an accomplished pianist and taught classical music to children.

Kennedy's later years were shaped by chronic alcoholism, which developed during her marriage. The alcohol problem escalated with sporadic, uneven sobriety, repeated drunk-driving arrests, court-ordered rehabilitation, and a return to drinking. This ultimately led to kidney damage, with the possibility of dialysis and protracted complications. In July 2004, her son, Ted Jr., was appointed her legal guardian; in 2005, her children were granted temporary guardianship. That year she was hospitalized with a concussion and a broken shoulder after being found lying in a Boston street near her home. In 2005, she requested that her cousin, financial planner Webster E. Janssen of Connecticut, establish a trust to control her estate. This was in violation of her sons' guardianship. Her children later took successful legal action against Janssen, removing him as trustee and later filing a complaint against him with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That October, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent surgery. She agreed to strict court-ordered guardianship and her estate has since been placed in a new trust overseen by two court-appointed trustees.

Actress

Karen Allen, Ed Flanders, Terence Knox, and Frances Sternhagen in The Road Home (1994)

The Road Home

8.0

TV Series

Risa (as Joan Kennedy)

1994

1 episode

 

Z Cars (1962)

Z Cars

7.1

TV Series

Mrs. Thomas (as Joan Kennedy)

1970

1 episode

 

Oh! What a Lovely War (1965)

Oh! What a Lovely War

TV Movie

(as Joan Kennedy)

1965