Eunice Kennedy Shriver

Eunice Mary Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on July 10, 1921.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/us/12shriver.html|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Influential Founder of Special Olympics, Dies at 88|first=Carla|last=Baranauckas|date=August 11, 2009|newspaper=The New York Times}} She was the fifth of nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., and Rose Fitzgerald.{{cite news |last=Grinberg |first=Emanuella |date=n.d. |title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies |work=CNN |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/11/eunice.kennedy.shriver/ |access-date=August 11, 2009}} Her siblings included U.S. President and Senator John F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, and U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith.{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/eunice-kennedy-shrivers-death-leaves-2-living-kennedy-siblings|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver's Death Leaves 2 Living Kennedy Siblings|date=March 25, 2015|website=Associated Press}}

Eunice was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart School in Noroton, Connecticut, and Manhattanville College. She studied at Stanford University where she competed on the swimming and track and field teams.{{cite web |title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver is 'Teddy' winner |url=https://ncaanewsarchive.s3.amazonaws.com/2001/Association-wide/ncaa-award-recipient-has-lived-a-life-of-giving---12-3-01.html |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association | date = 3 December 2001 |access-date=7 June 2024}} After graduating from Stanford in 1943 with a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology, she moved to Washington, D.C. and worked for the Special War Problems Division of the U.S. State Department. Kennedy eventually moved to the U.S. Justice Department as executive secretary for a project dealing with juvenile delinquency. During her time in Washington, she shared a townhouse in Georgetown with her brother John, then a U.S. Congressman.{{cite web |title=John F. Kennedy's Residences |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy/john-f-kennedys-residences |website=www.jfklibrary.org |access-date=6 August 2023}} Kennedy served as a social worker at the Federal Industrial Institution for Women for one year before moving to Chicago in 1951 to work with the House of the Good Shepherd women's shelter and Chicago Juvenile Court.

{{See also|List of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients}}

File:Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1980.jpg

File:US-NIH-NICHD-2008Logo.svg was renamed in honor of Shriver.]]

File:Kennedy Shriver.jpg

Shriver became executive vice president of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation in 1957. She shifted the organization's focus from Catholic charities to research on the causes of intellectual disabilities, and humane ways to treat them.{{cite news |last=Smith |first=J.Y. |date=August 12, 2009 |title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics Founder, Dies at 88 |work=washingtonpost.com |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/11/AR2009081100689.html |access-date=March 2, 2010}} This interest eventually culminated in, among other things, the Special Olympics movement.{{Cite web|last1=Nelson|first1=Valerie|last2=Mehren|date=August 12, 2009|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies at 88; Special Olympics founder and sister of JFK|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-eunice-kennedy-shriver12-2009aug12-story.html|access-date=June 21, 2020|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}

A long-time advocate for children's health and disability issues, Shriver championed the creation of the President's Panel on Mental Retardation in 1961. The panel was significant in the movement from institutionalization to community integration in the U.S. and throughout the world.Braddock, D. (February 2010). Honoring Eunice Kennedy Shriver's legacy in intellectual disability. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 48(1): 63–72. Shriver was a key founder of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), a part of the National Institutes of Health in 1962.{{Cite web |title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver {{!}} JFK Library |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/eunice-kennedy-shriver |access-date=2024-01-27 |website=www.jfklibrary.org|date=November 3, 2021 }}

In 1962, Shriver founded Camp Shriver, a summer day camp for children and adults with intellectual disabilities at her Maryland farm to explore their capabilities in a variety of sports and physical activities.[https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/eunice-kennedy-shriver Eunice Kennedy Shriver | JFK Library] From that camp came the concept of Special Olympics.{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bs-sp-espy-awards-20170713-story.html|title=Maryland swimmers Michael Phelps and Becca Meyers win ESPY awards|first=Baltimore|last=Sun|website=baltimoresun.com|date=July 13, 2017 }} Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9136962|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver's Olympic Legacy|website=NPR|date=April 5, 2007 |last1=Shapiro |first1=Joseph }} That year, the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation helped to plan and fund the First International Special Olympics Summer Games, held in Chicago's Soldier Field where 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from 26 states and Canada competed. In her speech at the opening ceremony, Shriver said, "The Chicago Special Olympics prove a very fundamental fact, the fact that exceptional children — mentally disabled children — can be exceptional athletes, the fact that through sports they can realize their potential for growth." Special Olympics Inc. was established as a nonprofit charity in 1968; since that time, nearly three million athletes have participated.

In 1969, Shriver moved to France and pursued her interest in intellectual disability there. She started organizing small activities with Paris organizations, mostly reaching out to families of kids who had special needs to provide activities for them, laying the foundation for a robust international expansion of the Special Olympics in the late 1970s and 1980s.{{cite magazine |last=Cooper |first=Chet |title=Timothy Shriver — Special Olympics |magazine=ABILITY Magazine |url=http://abilitymagazine.com/Special-Olympics-Shriver.html |access-date=February 18, 2014}}

In 1982, Shriver founded the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Community of Caring at University of Utah, Salt Lake City. The Community is a "grades K-12, whole school, comprehensive character education program with a focus on disabilities... adopted by almost 1,200 schools nationwide and in Canada".[http://www.communityofcaring.org/about/index.html "About Community of Caring"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331112104/http://www.communityofcaring.org/about/index.html |date=March 31, 2009 }}. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Community of Caring. Undated. Retrieved August 14, 2009.{{Cite web|title=Community of Caring Names University of Utah Its New National Headquarters - UNews Archive|url=https://archive.unews.utah.edu/news_releases/community-of-caring-names-university-of-utah-its-new-national-headquarters/|access-date=2021-12-13|website=archive.unews.utah.edu|date=March 25, 2011 |language=en-US}}

Shriver was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1984 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan for her work on behalf of persons with disabilities.{{cite web|url=https://www.deseret.com/2009/8/13/20334244/eunice-kennedy-shriver/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190515074757/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/705322996/Eunice-Kennedy-Shriver.html|url-status=live|archive-date=May 15, 2019|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver|date=August 13, 2009|website=DeseretNews.com}}[http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1984/32684a.htm "Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918012627/http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1984/32684a.htm |date=September 18, 2012 }}, Archives – Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. March 26, 1984. Accessed May 28, 2008. In 1988, she received the Laetare Medal, considered the highest award for American Catholics, by the University of Notre Dame.{{cite web |title=Laetare Acceptance Speech – Eunice Kennedy Shriver |url=http://www.eunicekennedyshriver.org/articles/article/100 |website=www.eunicekennedyshriver.org |access-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-date=January 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131084506/http://www.eunicekennedyshriver.org/articles/article/100 |url-status=dead }} In 1990 Shriver was awarded the Eagle Award from the United States Sports Academy. The Eagle Award is the academy's highest international honor and was awarded to Shriver for her significant contributions to international sport.{{cite web |date=January 21, 2008 |title=News 21/01/08 – FISU President Receives USSA Award |work=FISU |url=http://www.fisu.net/en/News-210108-FISU-President-Receives-USSA-Award-2133.html |access-date=May 26, 2011 |archive-date=July 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702101107/http://fisu.net/en/News-210108-FISU-President-Receives-USSA-Award-2133.html |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver|url=https://jfkhyannismuseum.org/eunice-kennedy-shriver/|access-date=2021-12-13|website=JFK Hyannis Museum|date=May 20, 2016 |language=en-US}}

In 1992, Shriver received the Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by the Jefferson Awards for Public Service.{{cite web |title=National – Jefferson Awards Foundation |url=http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national |access-date=August 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124043935/http://jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national |archive-date=November 24, 2010 |url-status=dead }}

For her work in nationalizing the Special Olympics, Shriver received the Civitan International World Citizenship Award.{{cite book |last=Armbrester |first=Margaret E. |year=1992 |title=The Civitan Story |publisher=Ebsco Media |location=Birmingham, AL |page=95}} Her advocacy on this issue has also earned her other awards and recognitions, including honorary degrees from numerous universities.[http://www.shrivercenter.org/about_ekshriver.html "Eunice Kennedy Shriver – Doctor of Public Service"] The Shriver Center, The University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Accessed May 28, 2008.{{cite web |title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver |work=Special Olympics |url=http://www.specialolympics.org/Special+Olympics+Public+Website/English/About_Us/Leaders/Mrs.+Shriver+Bio.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080128184416/http://www.specialolympics.org/Special%2BOlympics%2BPublic%2BWebsite/English/About_Us/Leaders/Mrs.%2BShriver%2BBio.htm |access-date=August 12, 2009 |archive-date=January 28, 2008 |url-status=dead}}{{better source needed|date=May 2019}} She is the second American and only woman to appear on a US coin while still living. Her portrait is on the obverse of the 1995 commemorative silver dollar honoring the Special Olympics. On the reverse is the quotation attributed to Shriver, "As we hope for the best in them, hope is reborn in us."{{cite book |last=Shriver |first=Timothy |chapter=Prepared statement of Timothy Shriver |title=Special Olympics: Hearing Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, Second Session, Special Hearing, July 2, 2006, Washington, DC. | publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office | year=2007 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TnihX4aUaYAC&pg=PA9 | page=9|isbn=9780160786907 }}{{cite magazine | magazine=The Numismatist | publisher=American Numismatic Association | volume=108 | year=1995 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AF4aAAAAYAAJ | access-date=February 5, 2020 | page=788,797,803| title=The Numismatist }}{{cite web | title=Commemorative – Special Olympics | website=U.S. Mint | date=December 16, 2016 | url=https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/special-olympics-world-games | access-date=February 5, 2020}}{{cite web | title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver Coin Details – Inspirational Ladies | website=Collectors Society | date=November 15, 2018 | url=https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/wcm/coinview.aspx?sc=16981 | access-date=February 5, 2020}}

In 1998, Shriver was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/eunice-kennedy-shriver/|title=Shriver, Eunice Kennedy|website=National Women's Hall of Fame}}

Shriver received the 2002 Theodore Roosevelt Award (the Teddy),{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/08/21/kennedy.shriver/index.html|title=Eunice Shriver recovers from hip surgery|date=August 21, 2002|website=CNN|access-date=November 5, 2019}} an annual award given by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to a graduate from an NCAA member institution who earned a varsity letter in college for participation in intercollegiate athletics, and who ultimately became a distinguished citizen of national reputation based on outstanding life accomplishment. In addition to the Teddy recognition, she was selected in 2006 as part of the NCAA Centennial celebration as one of the 100 most-influential individuals in its first century; she was listed ninth.{{cite web|url=https://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?key=/ncaa/ncaa/ncaa+news/ncaa+news+online/2009/association-wide/2002+teddy+winner+shriver+dies+at+88_08_11_09_ncaa_news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090811000000/https://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?key=/ncaa/ncaa/ncaa+news/ncaa+news+online/2009/association-wide/2002+teddy+winner+shriver+dies+at+88_08_11_09_ncaa_news|archive-date=August 11, 2009|title=2002 Teddy winner Shriver dies at 88|date=August 11, 2009|work=NCAA News}} [https://ncaanewsarchive.s3.amazonaws.com/2009/Association-wide/2002-teddy-winner-shriver-dies-at-88_08_11_09_ncaa_news.html Alt URL] In 2006, she received a papal knighthood from Pope Benedict XVI, being made a Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (DSG).{{cite web|url=https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/2009/08/eunice_kennedy_shriver_founder.html|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of Special Olympics and sister of John F. Kennedy, dies at 88|first=Bevin|last=Theodore|date=August 11, 2009|website=lehighvalleylive.com}} Her mother had been created a papal countess in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.{{cite web|url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/The-Kennedy-Family/Rose-Fitzgerald-Kennedy.aspx|title=Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy – John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum|website=www.jfklibrary.org|date=November 3, 2021 }}

In 2008, she received the Foremother Award from the National Center for Health Research for her lifetime achievements.{{cite web|url=http://www.center4research.org/foremother-health-policy-hero-awards/|title=Foremother and Health Policy Hero Awards Luncheon|date=May 7, 2018}}

In 2008, the U.S. Congress changed the NICHD's name to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.{{cite web|url=https://heavy.com/sports/2015/07/eunice-kennedy-shriver-special-olympics-espn-brave-in-the-attempt-tv-los-angeles-2015-bio-husband-family-quotes/|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver & The Special Olympics: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know|first=Laura|last=Amato|date=July 25, 2015}} In December 2008, Sports Illustrated named Shriver the first recipient of Sportsman of the Year Legacy Award.{{cite web |title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver's legacy lives on with Special Olympics |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jack_mccallum/08/11/shriver/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813025827/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jack_mccallum/08/11/shriver/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 13, 2009}} On May 9, 2009, the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in Washington, D.C., unveiled an historic portrait of her, the first portrait the NPG has ever commissioned of an individual who had not served as a U.S. president or First Lady. The portrait depicts her with four Special Olympics athletes (including Loretta Claiborne) and one Best Buddies participant. It was painted by David Lenz, the winner of the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition in 2006. As part of the Portrait Competition prize, the NPG commissioned a work from the winning artist to depict a living subject for the collection. Lenz, whose son, Sam, has Down syndrome and is an enthusiastic Special Olympics athlete, was inspired by Shriver's dedication to working with people with intellectual disabilities.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

Shriver became involved with Dorothy Hamill's special skating program in the Special Olympics after Hamill's Olympic Games ice-skating win. In September 2010, the State University of New York at Brockport, home of the 1979 Special Olympics, renamed its football stadium the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium.{{Cite web|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium|url=https://gobrockport.com/sports/2010/12/3/Eunice%20Kennedy%20Shriver%20Stadium.aspx|access-date=June 21, 2020|website=College at Brockport Athletics|language=en}}

In July 2017, Shriver posthumously received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2017 ESPY Awards.{{cite web|url=http://www.specialolympics.org/Press/2017/Eunice_Kennedy_Shriver_ESPY_Arthur_Ashe_Courage_Award.aspx|title=Special Olympics Founder Honored at The 2017 ESPYS|access-date=July 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718033051/http://www.specialolympics.org/Press/2017/Eunice_Kennedy_Shriver_ESPY_Arthur_Ashe_Courage_Award.aspx|archive-date=July 18, 2017|url-status=dead}}

Shriver actively campaigned for her elder brother, John, during his successful 1960 U.S. presidential election.{{Cite web|url=https://observer.com/2009/08/eunice-kennedy-shriver-stumped-in-n-j-during-1960-campaign/|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver stumped in N.J. during 1960 campaign|website=The New York Observer |date=August 11, 2009}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2009/aug/11/eunice-kennedy-shriver-dies|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver: a life in pictures|newspaper=The Guardian|date=August 11, 2009|via=www.theguardian.com}}

Although Shriver was a Democrat, she was a vocal supporter of the anti-abortion movement.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/opinion/31douthat.html|title=Opinion | A Different Kind of Liberal|first=Ross|last=Douthat|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 30, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230816191246/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/opinion/31douthat.html |archive-date= Aug 16, 2023 }} In 1990, Shriver wrote a letter to The New York Times denouncing an abortion rights group for having used a quotation of President Kennedy's words out of context in support of their position.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/13/opinion/l-jfk-would-have-defended-bishops-right-to-fight-abortion-884290.html|title=Opinion | J.F.K. Would Have Defended Bishops' Right to Fight Abortion|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 13, 1990 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230816191240/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/13/opinion/l-jfk-would-have-defended-bishops-right-to-fight-abortion-884290.html |archive-date= Aug 16, 2023 }}{{cite web |title=Biofiles: Eunice Kennedy Shriver |url=http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/shriver_eunice_kennedy.htm |access-date=August 11, 2009 |website= The History Guy }} Shriver was one of several prominent Democrats – including Governor Robert P. Casey of Pennsylvania and Bishop Austin Vaughan of New York – who took out a full-page The New York Times advertisement opposing "abortion on demand" during the 1992 Democratic Convention (the Party adopted a 1992 platform that emphasized its support for abortion rights).{{Cite web|url=https://politi.co/2vz8tA9|title='If You're a Pro-life Democrat … You Know You're Standing Alone'|first=Jennifer|last=Haberkorn|website=POLITICO Magazine |date=August 3, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026193717/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/03/democrats-abortion-pro-choice-life-219154 |archive-date= Oct 26, 2023 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-15-mn-3870-story.html|title='92 Democratic Convention : In Spotlight: Republican 'Defectors' : Abortion rights: Six women, saying that 'George Bush has abandoned us,' vow to vote for Clinton.|date=July 15, 1992|website=Los Angeles Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230816212949/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-15-mn-3870-story.html |archive-date= Aug 16, 2023 }} Shriver was a supporter of several anti-abortion organizations: Feminists for Life of America,{{cite magazine |url=http://www.feministsforlife.org/taf/1998/winter/Winter98-99.pdf |title=Remarkable Pro-Life Women |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529185826/http://www.feministsforlife.org/taf/1998/winter/Winter98-99.pdf|archive-date=May 29, 2008 |magazine =The American Feminist |publisher=Feminists for Life of America |volume=5 |issue=4 |date=Winter 1998–1999 |page=18 |access-date=May 28, 2008}} the Susan B. Anthony List, and Democrats for Life of America.{{Cite web|url=https://www1.cbn.com/ChurchWatch/archive/2009/08/11/the-pro-life-kennedy|title=The Pro-Life Kennedy|date=August 11, 2009|website=CBN.com |first1=Craig |last1=von Buseck |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230816191213/https://www1.cbn.com/ChurchWatch/archive/2009/08/11/the-pro-life-kennedy |archive-date= Aug 16, 2023 }}

Despite being a Democrat, Shriver supported her Republican son-in-law Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful 2003 Governor of California election.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/08/11/arnolds-debt-to-eunice|title=Arnold's Debt to Eunice|first=Joe|last=Mathews|newspaper=The Daily Beast|date=August 11, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805072443/https://www.thedailybeast.com/arnolds-debt-to-eunice |archive-date= Aug 5, 2020 }}{{Cite magazine |last=Orth |first=Maureen |date=2009-08-11 |title=Remembering Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a Woman Who Got Her Way |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2009/08/remembering-the-indomitable-eunice-kennedy-shriver |url-access=subscription |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128203730/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2009/08/remembering-the-indomitable-eunice-kennedy-shriver |archive-date= Jan 28, 2023 }}

On January 28, 2008, aged 86, Shriver was present at American University in Washington, D.C., when her brother, U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, announced his endorsement of Barack Obama's 2008 Democratic U.S. presidential campaign.{{cite web |last1=Alexander |first1=Amy |url=http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080211/alexander2 |title=A Torch Passed |website=The Nation |date=January 28, 2008 |access-date=August 11, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201174335/http://www.thenation.com./doc/20080211/alexander2 |archive-date= Dec 1, 2008 }}

File:Eunice_Kennedy_Shriver_and_Sargent_Shriver.jpg

On May 23, 1953, aged 31, Shriver married Sargent Shriver in a Roman Catholic ceremony at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Archives+and+Manuscripts/Shriver.Sargent/fa_shriver_long.htm |title=R(obert) Sargent Shriver: Papers (#214) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020232431/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Archives+and+Manuscripts/Shriver.Sargent/fa_shriver_long.htm |archive-date=October 20, 2007 |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum}} Her husband served as the U.S. ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970 and was the 1972 Democratic U.S. vice presidential candidate (with George McGovern as the candidate for U.S. President).{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/us/politics/19shriver.html|title=R. Sargent Shriver, Kennedy In-Law and Peace Corps Founding Director, Dies at 95|first=Robert D.|last=McFadden|date=January 18, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128042937/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/us/politics/19shriver.html |archive-date= Nov 28, 2023 }} They had five children: Robert Sargent Shriver III, Maria Owings Shriver (Schwarzenegger), Timothy Perry Shriver, Mark Kennedy Shriver, and Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver.{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26007.html|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 1921–2009|first=Mike|last=Allen|website=POLITICO |date=August 11, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130222042/https://www.politico.com/story/2009/08/eunice-kennedy-shriver-1921-2009-026007 |archive-date= Nov 30, 2022 }} Shriver had nineteen grandchildren at the time of her death.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/11/eunice.kennedy.shriver/index.html|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies at 88 |website=CNN |first1= Emanuella |last1=Grinberg |date=August 11, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129103146/https://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/11/eunice.kennedy.shriver/index.html |archive-date= Nov 29, 2022 }}

She had a close relationship with her sister Rosemary Kennedy, who was intellectually disabled and who became incapacitated due to a lobotomy. Shriver suffered a stroke and broken hip in 2005.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/14/shriver.funeral/index.html|title=Special Olympics torch lights Eunice Kennedy Shriver's funeral |website=CNN |date=August 14, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230816191334/https://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/14/shriver.funeral/index.html |archive-date= Aug 16, 2023 }} On November 18, 2007, aged 86, she was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she spent several weeks.{{cite news|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/25/AR2007112500627_pf.html |title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver Hospitalized|date= November 25, 2007|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=washingtonpost.com |access-date=August 12, 2009}}Beggy, Carol and Mark Shanahan, [https://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2008/01/14/shes_loyal_to_fathers_ideal/ "She's loyal to father's 'Ideal'"], The Boston Globe, January 14, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2009.

On August 7, 2009, Shriver was admitted to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Massachusetts with an undisclosed ailment.McGreevy, Patrick. [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/schwarzenegger-maria-shriver-at-eunice-shrivers-bedside.html "Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver at Eunice Shriver's bedside"], Los Angeles Times. August 7, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2009. On August 10, her relatives were called to the hospital.{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/10/eunice.kennedy.shriver/index.html|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver's relatives called to hospital|author= |work=CNN|date=August 11, 2009|access-date=August 11, 2009}} She died at the hospital the next day at the age of 88, two weeks before her brother, Senator Ted Kennedy, died on August 25, 2009, at the age of 77.{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26007.html|title=Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies |last=Allen|first=Mike |work=Politico |date= August 11, 2009|access-date=August 11, 2009}}

Shriver's family issued a statement upon her death, reading in part:

{{blockquote|Inspired by her love of God, her devotion to her family, and her relentless belief in the dignity and worth of every human life, she worked without ceasing—searching, pushing, demanding, hoping for change. She was a living prayer, a living advocate, a living center of power. She set out to change the world and to change us, and she did that and more. She founded the movement that became Special Olympics, the largest movement for acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in the history of the world. Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and they in turn are her living legacy.{{cite web|url=http://www.eunicekennedyshriver.org/articles/article/171|title=Statement from The Shriver Family|website=Eunice Kennedy Shriver|date=2009-08-11|access-date=2009-08-11|archive-date=August 14, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814113450/http://www.eunicekennedyshriver.org/articles/article/171|url-status=dead}}}}

President Barack Obama remarked after Shriver's death that she was "an extraordinary woman who, as much as anyone, taught our nation—and our world—that no physical or mental barrier can restrain the power of the human spirit."{{cite news |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/afterword/2010/08/one-year-ago-eunice-kennedy-shriver.html|title=One year ago: Eunice Kennedy Shriver|date=August 11, 2010 |first=Michael|last=Farr|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}

On August 14, 2009, an invitation-only Requiem Mass was celebrated for Shriver at St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Hyannis. Following the Requiem Mass, she was buried at the St. Francis Xavier parish cemetery in nearby Centerville, Massachusetts. [http://www2.turnto10.com/jar/news/local/article/biden_among_invitees_to_eunice_kennedy_shriver_funeral_mass/21671/ "Special Olympians, Family Celebrate Eunice Kennedy Shriver"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817212151/http://www2.turnto10.com/jar/news/local/article/biden_among_invitees_to_eunice_kennedy_shriver_funeral_mass/21671/ |date=August 17, 2009 }}. The Associated Press (at WJAR television's website turnto10.com). August 14, 2009. Retrieved August 16, 2000. Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter of condolence to her family.{{cite web|url=http://www.zenit.org/article-26630?l=english|title=Pope's Letter to Kennedy-Shriver Family|access-date=August 20, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608004113/http://www.zenit.org/article-26630?l=english |archive-date=June 8, 2011}} Because her brother Ted had terminal brain cancer, he was unable to attend the funeral, and their sister Jean Kennedy Smith stayed with him. Ted died two weeks later, leaving Jean as the sole surviving child of Joseph and Rose Kennedy until her death on June 17, 2020, at the age of 92.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TedKennedy/story?id=8421544|title=The Last Kennedy: A Closer Look at Jean Kennedy Smith|last=McMullen|first=Troy|website=ABC News|date=August 26, 2009|access-date=August 26, 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804171235/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TedKennedy/jean-kennedy-smith-kennedy/story?id=8421544|archive-date=August 4, 2019}}

{{Portal|Biography}}

• Kennedy family
• Shriver family
• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
• Special Olympics

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |author=Eileen McNamara |title=Eunice: The Kennedy Who Changed the World |isbn=978-1451642261 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2018 }}

{{Wikiquote}}

• [http://eunicekennedyshriver.org Official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204063136/http://www.eunicekennedyshriver.org/ |date=February 4, 2021 }}
• Shriver, Maria (August 14, 2009). Transcript. [https://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/08/maria_shivers_e.html "Maria Shriver's Eulogy of Her Mother"], The Boston Globe. Accessed August 31, 2009.
• [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the_press_office/Statement-from-the-President-on-the-passing-of-Eunice-Kennedy-Shriver "Statement from the President on the Passing Of Eunice Kennedy Shriver"], (August 11, 2009) on the White House's website
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090817212151/http://www2.turnto10.com/jar/news/local/article/biden_among_invitees_to_eunice_kennedy_shriver_funeral_mass/21671/ "Special Olympians, Family Celebrate Eunice Kennedy Shriver"], article on funeral and burial by The Associated Press (at WJAR television's website turnto10.com)
• {{IMDb name|0447885}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080828023528/http://www.communityofcaring.org/ communityofcaring.org], Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Community of Caring's official website
• Shapiro, Joseph, [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9136962 Eunice Kennedy Shriver's Olympic Legacy], (April 5, 2007) Morning Edition on National Public Radio's website (includes podcast as well as text)
• [http://www.usmint.gov/kids/coinNews/coinOfTheMonth/2002/06.cfm Coin of the Month] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190652/http://www.usmint.gov/kids/coinNews/coinOfTheMonth/2002/06.cfm |date=March 3, 2016 }}, U.S. Mint "Coin of the Month" page (geared for children) on the 1995 Special Olympics Commemorative Silver Dollar

{{S-start}}

{{s-ach}}

{{s-bef|before= William Cohen}}

{{s-ttl|title= Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA)|years=2002}}

{{s-aft|after= Donna de Varona}}

{{S-end}}

{{Special Olympics}}

{{Maryland Women's Hall of Fame}}

{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}

{{Kennedy family}}

{{John F. Kennedy}}

{{Robert F. Kennedy}}

{{Ted Kennedy}}

{{NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award}}

{{Arthur Ashe Courage}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shriver, Eunice Kennedy}}

Category:1921 births

Category:2009 deaths

Category:20th-century Roman Catholics

Category:21st-century Roman Catholics

Category:American anti-abortion activists

Category:American disability rights activists

Category:American nonprofit executives

Category:American people of Irish descent

Category:American sociologists

Category:Catholics from Massachusetts

Category:Convent of the Sacred Heart (NYC) alumni

Category:Dames of St. Gregory the Great

Category:Kennedy family

Category:Laetare Medal recipients

Category:Laureus World Sports Awards winners

Category:Manhattanville University alumni

Category:Massachusetts Democrats

Category:People from Barnstable, Massachusetts

Category:People from Brookline, Massachusetts

Category:People from Purchase, New York

Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients

Category:Roman Catholic activists

Category:Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni

Category:Shriver family

Category:Special Olympics

Category:Stanford Cardinal women's swimmers

Category:Stanford Cardinal women's track and field athletes

Category:Track and field athletes from Massachusetts

Category:20th-century American sportswomen

Category:20th-century American social scientists

Category:20th-century American philanthropists