Mary Richardson Kennedy

{{Short description|American interior designer and philanthropist (1959–2012)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Mary Richardson Kennedy

| image = Mary Richardson Kennedy.jpg

| caption = Richardson Kennedy in 2008

| birth_name = Mary Kathleen Richardson

| birth_date = {{birth date |1959|10|04}}

| birth_place = Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|5|16|1959|10|4}}

| death_place = Bedford, New York, U.S.

| education = Brown University
Rhode Island School of Design

| occupation = {{hlist|Interior designer|architect|philanthropist}}

| spouse = {{marriage|Robert F. Kennedy Jr.|1994|2010|end=sep.}}

| children = 4

| family = Kennedy (by marriage)

}}

Mary Kathleen Richardson Kennedy (née Richardson; October 4, 1959 – May 16, 2012) was an American interior designer and philanthropist. She was a proponent of green building and was a co-founder of the Food Allergy Initiative, the largest fund for food allergy research in the United States. Her 2010 legal separation from her husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was highly publicized. Her suicide in 2012 also received national media attention.

Early life

Mary Kathleen Richardson was born on October 4, 1959, and was raised in Hoboken, New Jersey. Her father, John F. Richardson, was an attorney and a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, who died when she was 12 years old. Richardson's mother was Nancy Higgins, a public school English teacher.{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/16/new-questions-arise-about-mary-richardson-kennedy-s-suicide|title=New Questions Arise About Mary Richardson Kennedy's Suicide|first=Nancy|last=Collins|date=May 16, 2013|access-date=March 18, 2019|website=Thedailybeast.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/08/archives/john-f-richardson-taught-at-stevens.html|title=John F. Richardson, Taught at Stevens|date=December 8, 1971|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 19, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Richardson had four sisters and two brothers.

She attended The Putney School, where she became friends and roommates with Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy. She later roomed with Kerry Kennedy in college and served as her maid of honor at her wedding in 1990 to Andrew Cuomo.{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/just-in-time-for-st-patricks-day-we-investigate-why-there-arent-more-classic-irish-whiskey-cocktails|title=Why Aren't There More Classic Irish Whiskey Cocktails?|first=Wayne|last=Curtis|date=March 9, 2019|access-date=March 18, 2019|website=Thedailybeast.com}}

Education

Richardson attended Brown University and studied architectural design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/kerry-kennedy/mary-richardson-kennedy_b_1537286.html|title=Ode to My Best Friend -- Mary Richardson Kennedy|first=Kerry|last=Kennedy|date=May 22, 2012|publisher=HuffPost|access-date=March 18, 2019}}

Richardson spent a year working for the artist Andy Warhol in 1979-80. While Edward Kennedy was running for president in 1980, Mary Richardson, then age 20, had raised donations of artwork from Warhol and other prominent artists in his network, including Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, and Julian Schnabel.

Career

In 1981, Richardson earned $500 per hour as a model for fashion designer Bill Blass.{{Cite book |last=Warhol |first=Andy |url= |title=The Andy Warhol Diaries |last2=Hackett |first2=Pat |date=1989 |publisher=Warner Books |others= |isbn=978-0-446-51426-2 |location=New York, NY |pages=395 |postscript=Entry date: July 15, 1981}}

After studying architecture at RISD, Richardson lived in SoHo, Manhattan, in the 1980s, and was active in the bohemian culture.{{Cite web|title=The Last Days of Mary Kennedy|url=https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-last-days-mary-kennedy-65169|last=Leamer|first=Laurence|date=June 11, 2012|website=Newsweek|language=en|access-date=May 20, 2020}}

In 1993, Richardson worked for the firm Parrish Hadley Design as an architectural designer. She was involved in the renovation of the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, the official residence of the Vice President of the United States. Her work involved green building practices and was certified through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.{{cite web|title=Mary Richardson Kennedy leaves legacy of green design|url=https://www.mnn.com/your-home/remodeling-design/blogs/mary-richardson-kennedy-leaves-legacy-of-green-design|last=Hickman|first=Matt|date=May 18, 2012|website=MNN - Mother Nature Network|access-date=March 18, 2019}} Following flood damage to her home in 2003, Richardson oversaw a massive salvage job and green rebuild project known as the Kennedy Green House Project.

In 1998, she co-founded the Food Allergy Initiative, the largest private fund for food allergy research in the United States.{{cite web|title=Mary Kennedy: 'Green' designer, wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.|url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/05/17/us/mary-kennedy-profile/index.html|date=June 12, 2012|website=CNN|access-date=March 18, 2019}}

Personal life

In the 1980s, Richardson dated Carlos Mavroleon of the Mavroleon family.{{Cite book |last=Warhol |first=Andy |url= |title=The Andy Warhol Diaries |last2=Hackett |first2=Pat |date=1989 |publisher=Warner Books |others= |isbn=978-0-446-51426-2 |location=New York, NY |pages=435 |postscript=Entry date: March 28, 1982}}{{Cite news |last=Burke |first=Jason |date=2000-08-19 |title=Carlos Mavroleon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2000/aug/20/features.magazine47 |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}

On April 15, 1994, Richardson married Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the brother of her close friend Kerry Kennedy, aboard a research vessel on the Hudson River.{{cite news |last=Brozan |first=Nadine |date=April 20, 1994 |title=Chronicle |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/20/style/chronicle-836761.html |via=The New York Times Archives |page=4 |access-date=April 10, 2023 |archive-date=December 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121211110455/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/20/style/chronicle-836761.html |url-status=live}} They had four children: Conor, Kyra, Aidan, and William.{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/13/mary-kennedy-death-year-later/2156985/|title=Mary Kennedy's death still puzzles friends|date=May 13, 2013|website=USA Today|access-date=March 18, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://people.com/all-about-robert-f-kennedy-jr-kids-8576394|title=All About Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 6 Children|last=Gurley|first=Alex|date=August 26, 2024|access-date=August 27, 2024}}

During their marriage, Kennedy was widely regarded as a serial philanderer and was known among his friends for sending explicit nude photos of women that they presumed he had taken, according to Vanity Fair.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/robert-kennedy-jr-shocking-history |title=RFK Jr.'s Family Doesn't Want Him to Run. Even They May Not Know His Darkest Secrets |last=Hagan |first=Joe |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=July 2, 2024 |access-date=July 2, 2024}}{{cite news|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/174667/rfk-jr-compulsive-womanizer|title=RFK Jr. Was a Compulsive Womanizer, and Yes, We Should Care|last=Burleigh|first=Nina|publisher=The New Republic|date=August 1, 2023|access-date=August 26, 2024}} The highly-publicized allegations of sexual assault against Kennedy by the family's then-babysitter, Eliza Cooney, allegedly took place during this period.{{cite web|url=https://people.com/books/robert-kennedy-jrs-troubled-marriages-detailed-in-new-book/|title=New Book Details Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Troubled Marriages|last=McAfee|first=Tierney|date=September 16, 2015|publisher=People Magazine|access-date=August 25, 2024}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/robert-kennedy-jr-shocking-history |title=RFK Jr.'s Family Doesn't Want Him to Run. Even They May Not Know His Darkest Secrets |last=Hagan |first=Joe |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=July 2, 2024 |access-date=July 2, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/12/rfk-jr-sexual-assault-apology-00167867|title=Robert F. Kennedy Jr. texted apology to woman he allegedly sexually assaulted, Washington Post and NBC News reports say|publisher=politico|last=Gibson|first=Brittany|date=July 12, 2024|access-date=August 25, 2024}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/08/12/robert-f-kennedy-jr-profile-presidential-campaign|title=What Does Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Actually Want?|magazine=The New Yorker|last=Malone|first=Clare|date=August 5, 2024|access-date=August 26, 2024}} On May 12, 2010, Kennedy filed for divorce from Richardson. Three days later, she was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. A court ordered that full temporary custody of her children be granted to her estranged husband.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-last-days-mary-kennedy-65169|title=Behind Mary Kennedy's Long Meltdown|first=Laurence|last=Leamer|date=June 11, 2012|website=Newsweek.com|access-date=March 18, 2019}}

= Death =

On May 16, 2012, Richardson was found dead at her home in Bedford, New York. Her death was ruled a suicide by hanging.{{cite web|first1=Jill|last1=Smolowe|first2=Liz|last2=McNeil|url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-what-drove-her-to-suicide-mary-kennedy-1959-2012-vol-77-no-23/|title=What Drove Her to Suicide? Mary Kennedy: 1959-2012|date=June 4, 2012|website=People|access-date=March 18, 2019}} An autopsy revealed that she had antidepressants in her blood.{{cite web|url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2012/07/06/law/mary-kennedy|title=Antidepressants in RFK Jr. wife's system|date=July 6, 2012|website=Mprnews.org|access-date=March 18, 2019}} Before her death, Richardson had discovered Kennedy's personal journal from 2001, in which he recorded sexual encounters with 37 different women. According to Kennedy, Richardson passed the journal along "to her sisters with instructions that, if anything happened to her, [it should be] published in the press".{{Cite magazine |last=Amira |first=Dan |date=September 9, 2013 |title=Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Allegedly Had Affairs With 37 Women in 2001 |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2013/09/rfk-jr-journal-affairs-diary-kennedy.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |magazine=New York}}{{cite AV media |people= Vlad Lyubovny, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. |date=Nov 15, 2023 |title= Robert F Kennedy Jr on Ex-Wife Taking Her Life After Finding Diary of Women He Slept With (Part 10)|language=en|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu3sw2P5PA8s&t=06:50|access-date=August 25, 2024 |format=video|publisher=Vlad TV}}

Her funeral, organized by the Kennedy family, was held at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Bedford.{{cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2012/05/20/rfk-jr-rejects-blame-during-eulogy-at-wife-mary-richardson-kennedys-funeral/|title=RFK Jr. rejects blame during eulogy at wife Mary Richardson Kennedy's funeral|first=Lorena|last=Mongelli|date=May 20, 2012|website=The New York Post|access-date=March 18, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/mary-richardson-kennedys-funeral/|title=Mary Richardson Kennedy's funeral|website=CBS News|date=May 21, 2012 |access-date=March 18, 2019}} On May 21, 2012, a memorial service organized by the Richardson family was held at the Standard Hotel in Manhattan.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/nyregion/third-ceremony-held-for-wife-of-robert-kennedy-jr.html|title=3rd Ceremony Held for Wife of Robert Kennedy Jr.|first=John|last=Leland|date=May 22, 2012|access-date=March 18, 2019|website=The New York Times}} A legal battle between her widower and her brother, Thomas W. Richardson, ensued over which family should have control over her remains.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. won the court case and buried her beside his aunt, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and her husband, Sargent Shriver, at St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in Centerville, Massachusetts. Several days later, Kennedy moved Richardson's remains to an empty plot in the cemetery, and put up a gravestone there.{{Cite web |date=2012-07-12 |title=Mary Kennedy's body dug up, moved away from family plot |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/mary-kennedys-body-dug-moved-away-family-plot-flna878157 |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=NBC News |language=en}} Media at the time reported that Kennedy negotiated to buy fifty plots surrounding Richardson's grave, and this was confirmed when Saoirse Kennedy Hill, Mary's niece, was interred beside her in 2019.{{Cite web |title=Scenes of Love & Loss at Saoirse Kennedy Hill's Funeral: 'A Rebel, and I Loved Her to Death' |url=https://people.com/politics/photos-from-saoirse-kennedy-hills-funeral-mass-and-burial-service/ |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=Peoplemag |language=en}}

References