Updated October 20, 2026, 12:53 p.m. ET
Kyle Kennedy, granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, has died. She was 42 years old.
Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy’s son Michael L. Kennedy, died Sept. 21 at her home in Westwood, Massachusetts, according to an obituary from Burke Funeral Homes. His funeral was private.
The cause of death has not been released, but Kennedy struggled with numerous health problems in recent years after suffering a severe spinal cord injury, according to Kennedy’s obituary.
“The years that followed were difficult, but Kyle fought to maintain her dry wit and determination through it all, trying to be the best mother possible to her sons and caring for her two beloved, ill-behaved Wheaten terriers,” Kennedy’s obituary read. “She also began advocating for people with disabilities, including testifying at the Massachusetts State House during a hearing on discrimination in health care for people with disabilities.”
USA TODAY has reached out to the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center for comment.
Kennedy’s father, lawyer and businessman Michael L. Kennedy, died in 1997 in a skiing accident at Aspen Mountain, Colorado. His grandfather, Democratic politician and New York senator Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1968 following a shooting at a Los Angeles hotel.
Kennedy’s daughter Josie, the fraternal twin of his 12-year-old son Conor, died days after birth.
Kennedy is survived by his sons, Conor and Declan, 10; her former husband, Liam; his mother, Victoria; his brother, Michael; and his sister, Rory.
Kyle Kennedy injured in spinal cord
In 2020, Kennedy suffered a severe spinal cord injury, which led to “long-term paralysis, disability and other medical problems,” according to his obituary.
Early life and educational career of Kyle Kennedy
Born in July 1984, Kennedy grew up in Cohasset, Massachusetts. After graduating from Milton Academy, where she earned honors for her Latin scholarship, Kennedy enrolled at Georgetown University as a history major.
She also attended Pace University, where she earned a master’s degree in early childhood education, as well as Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education for her master’s degree in education policy and management.
Kennedy taught for two years in the New York City public school system as part of her work with Teach for America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to teacher development.
“She became a strong advocate for more equitable elementary education and charter schooling,” her obituary reads. Kennedy later worked with “technology companies focused on curriculum reform and improvement and as a coach for educators working with young students.”
Kennedy’s curse? Family deaths over the years
There have been several other high-profile deaths in the Kennedy family over the years.
Kyle Kennedy’s great-uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963 while riding in a limousine in Dallas.
President Kennedy’s son, John F. Kennedy Jr., and his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, died in a 1999 plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Maeve McKean, another granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, died in 2020 along with her 8-year-old son, Gideon, after the couple disappeared during a canoe trip in the Chesapeake Bay. Both McKean and his son drowned in the bay.
And in December, Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of John F. Kennedy, died at the age of 35 following a battle with acute myeloid leukemia.
Ryan Murphy’s controversial ‘Love Story’ series revisits Kennedy family history
Earlier this year, “American Horror Story” creator and Emmy-winning producer Ryan Murphy revisited the tragic romance of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in the FX series “Love Story,” which stars Paul Anthony Kelly as Kennedy Jr. and Sarah Pidgeon as Bessette.
The biographical drama has sparked backlash from the Kennedy family, with Jack Schlossberg (son of Caroline Kennedy and grandson of John F. Kennedy) lambasting the series for its dramatization of his late uncle’s life.
“I would just like people who watch the show to watch it with one letter in mind, and that’s a capital ‘F’ for fiction,” Schlossberg said in a March interview with “CBS Sunday Morning.” Ryan Murphy “knows nothing about what he’s talking about, and he makes a ton of money by grotesquely depicting someone else’s life,” he said.
Contributor: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
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