Joan Bennett Kennedy, First Wife of Late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, Dies at 89

Her nephew and U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said the entire family is ‘grateful for the time God gave us with her.’

Joan Bennett Kennedy, the first wife of U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), attends the dedication of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston, Mass., on March 30, 2015. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Joan Bennett Kennedy, pianist, author, mental health advocate, and first wife of the late Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy, has died at age 89.

She “passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home in Boston, Massachusetts,” her nephew and U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed in a statement on X.