Mentally Challenged Kennedy Sister Dies at 86

[Janice]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...semary_kennedy


******** Kennedy Sister Dies at 86

WASHINGTON - Rosemary Kennedy, the oldest sister of President John F. Kennedy and the inspiration for the Special Olympics, died Friday. She was 86.

Kennedy, the third child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy, was born mentally ******** and was lobotomized when she was 23. She lived most of her life in a Jefferson, Wis., institution, the St. Coletta School for Exceptional Children.

She died with her brother, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, and her sisters by her side, the family said in a statement.

"Rosemary was a lifelong jewel to every member of our family," the statement said. "From her earliest years, her mental retardation was a continuing inspiration to each of us and a powerful source of our family's commitment to do all we can to help all persons with disabilities live full and productive lives."

"We know our parents and our brothers and sister who have gone before us are welcoming her joyfully home to heaven," the family said.

Rosemary Kennedy's condition became an inspiration to her younger sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who became an activist in the field of mental retardation. Shriver later founded the Special Olympics for mentally disabled athletes, and in 1984 she took over her sister's care after their mother had a stroke.

While Rosemary remained largely out of the public eye for more than 40 years, her retardation became public in 1960, just after her brother John was elected president. The National Association for ******** Children mentioned in a publication that the president-elect "has a mentally ******** sister who is in an institution in Wisconsin."

The following year, Eunice revealed more about her sister's story in an article for The Saturday Evening Post. "Early in life Rosemary was different," she wrote. "She was slower to crawl, slower to walk and speak. ... Rosemary was mentally ********."

Born Rose Marie Kennedy on Sept. 13, 1918, in Boston, she was known as Rosemary or Rosie to friends and family. Her retardation may have stemmed from brain damage at birth.

But in her own diaries before the lobotomy she chronicled a life of tea dances, dress fittings, trips to Europe and a visit to the Roosevelt White House.

Preserved by her mother's secretary, the diaries came to light in 1995, in a book. And while they revealed no great secrets, the three diaries — written between 1936 and 1938 — described people she met and concerts and operas she attended.

But as she got older, her father worried that his daughter's mild condition would lead her into situations that could damage the family's reputation.

"Rosemary was a woman, and there was a dread fear of pregnancy, disease and disgrace," author Laurence Leamer wrote in his book "The Kennedy Women: The Saga of an American Family." He wrote that Rosemary had taken to sneaking out of the convent where she was staying at the time.

Doctors told Joseph Kennedy that a lobotomy, a medical procedure in which the frontal lobes of a patient's brain are scraped away, would help his daughter and calm her mood swings that the family found difficult to handle at home.

Psychosurgery was in its infancy at the time, and only a few hundred lobotomies had been performed. The procedure was believed to be a way to relieve serious mental disorders. Leamer wrote that Rosemary was "probably the first person with mental retardation in America to receive a prefrontal lobotomy."

Rosemary lived in several private institutions before her father placed her in St. Coletta, an hour west of Milwaukee. He oversaw construction of a private house there for Rosemary and two nurses. Later, in 1984, the Kennedy family gave the institution $1 million, in honor of Rose Kennedy's 93rd birthday.

"We are forever thankful to the loving members of the St. Coletta community who care for Rosemary, loved her, and in a very real sense became extended members of our family," the family statement said.

During the 1980s, Eunice involved Rosemary more in the lives of her siblings and their children. She attended family gatherings in Hyannis Port, Mass., New York and elsewhere more frequently than before.

[vienna waits]

Kind of sad how the Kennedy's just shoved her off to the side and out of the picture... almost so she wouldn't be an embarrassment or something. I can't remember exactly, but I think my history teacher said her father rarely saw her.

[TheGreatPretender]

That's so sad. At least she lived a long life. May she rest in peace.

[Caffeine King]

I remember my 5th grade teacher telling us about her and how they shipped her way out there as if she was an embarassment...

That poor thing...R.I.P

[*Pleasant Tomorrow*]

Aw, RIP.

[ABlairican Pie]

That's so sad that people did things like lobotomies back then. I feel bad for her, but at least she had a good long life. I'm glad that things have improved in the treatment of the ******** and mentally in this past century.

[Janet McFarland]

Originally Posted by Caffeine King

I remember my 5th grade teacher telling us about her and how they shipped her way out there as if she was an embarassment...

That poor thing...R.I.P

That's terrible R.I.P

[Belair]

Geez someone else dead.

[dawsongirl]

Originally Posted by Idol Fanatic

Kind of sad how the Kennedy's just shoved her off to the side and out of the picture... almost so she wouldn't be an embarrassment or something. I can't remember exactly, but I think my history teacher said her father rarely saw her.

I was thinking the same thing. I didn't even know she existed. Nice that her sister took an interest in her and her condition though. The Special Olympics are a nice thing.

[Penny Lane]

I have read a lot about Rosemary. From what I have read she may have only been dyslexic.She was also kind of slow mentally. But Joe Kennedy had the lobotomy done while his wife was in Europe and she knew nothing about it. It was reported that Rosemary was a 17 year old girl before the procedure but became a 5 year old child afterward. She was even presented to court in England. She could have lived a fairly normal life if not for Joe. He expected perfection out of his family and poor Rosemary didn't measure up. That makes me so angry! But her family have been there for her and visited her and brought her home several times over the years. So at least she had that!
RIP Rosemary

Here is Rosemary(right) with her mother Rose Kennedy as she was being presented to court

[Kay Scarpetta]

That's really sad how her father did that... we won't get me started on the Kennedy's.

... RIP

[vienna waits]

Originally Posted by Penny Lane

I have read a lot about Rosemary. From what I have read she may have only been dyslexic.She was also kind of slow mentally. But Joe Kennedy had the lobotomy done while his wife was in Europe and she knew nothing about it. It was reported that Rosemary was a 17 year old girl before the procedure but became a 5 year old child afterward. She was even presented to court in England. She could have lived a fairly normal life if not for Joe. He expected perfection out of his family and poor Rosemary didn't measure up. That makes me so angry! But her family have been there for her and visited her and brought her home several times over the years. So at least she had that!
RIP Rosemary

Here is Rosemary(right) with her mother Rose Kennedy as she was being presented to court

that's her on the right? She's way prettier than her mom. All of that makes sense now... I remember hearing about how daddy completely destroyed the normal life she could have had.

[Penny Lane]

Originally Posted by Idol Fanatic

that's her on the right? She's way prettier than her mom. All of that makes sense now... I remember hearing about how daddy completely destroyed the normal life she could have had.

She was the family beauty. Her sisters IMO were not very attractive. But that has nothing to do with anything I guess. Yes, her good old daddy did her in!

[*Pleasant Tomorrow*]

Originally Posted by Penny Lane

I have read a lot about Rosemary. From what I have read she may have only been dyslexic.She was also kind of slow mentally. But Joe Kennedy had the lobotomy done while his wife was in Europe and she knew nothing about it. It was reported that Rosemary was a 17 year old girl before the procedure but became a 5 year old child afterward. She was even presented to court in England. She could have lived a fairly normal life if not for Joe. He expected perfection out of his family and poor Rosemary didn't measure up. That makes me so angry! But her family have been there for her and visited her and brought her home several times over the years. So at least she had that!
RIP Rosemary

Here is Rosemary(right) with her mother Rose Kennedy as she was being presented to court

God, that's so sad.

[D-Dey]

Originally Posted by Penny Lane

I have read a lot about Rosemary. From what I have read she may have only been dyslexic.She was also kind of slow mentally. But Joe Kennedy had the lobotomy done while his wife was in Europe and she knew nothing about it. It was reported that Rosemary was a 17 year old girl before the procedure but became a 5 year old child afterward. She was even presented to court in England. She could have lived a fairly normal life if not for Joe. He expected perfection out of his family and poor Rosemary didn't measure up. That makes me so angry! But her family have been there for her and visited her and brought her home several times over the years. So at least she had that!
RIP Rosemary

Here is Rosemary(right) with her mother Rose Kennedy as she was being presented to court

I thought she was dead shortly after her lobotomy, but I agree with you on the Kennedys' attitude towards her, and so does Howard Stern. Ever read "Miss America?" He's got an open letter to the "Third Generation Kennedys" on one page right next to his chapter criticizing them for the lobotomy and other issues. I've got a photocpy of the page framed somewhere.