Educator Kyle Kennedy Dies at 42 After Years With Paralysis

Kyle Kennedy, an educator and granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy who later advocated for people with disabilities, died Sept. 21 at her home in Westwood, Massachusetts. She was 42.

Kennedy “passed away peacefully,” according to an obituary published by Burke Funeral Homes. Her cause of death was not announced; the Westwood town clerk told The Guardian it was pending. The obituary said she suffered a severe spinal cord injury in 2020 that left her with long-term paralysis and other medical challenges. It did not say how the injury occurred.

Kennedy “built a career devoted to early childhood education,” the obituary said, describing her work on behalf of disadvantaged children and her later advocacy for people living with disabilities. After her injury, she testified at the Massachusetts state house during a hearing on discrimination in health care for disabled people.

“The years that followed brought struggles but Kyle fought to maintain her dry wit and determination through it all,” the obituary said. She continued trying to be the best possible mother to her children while caring for her two Wheaten terriers, it added.

Born in Washington, D.C., Kennedy grew up largely in Cohasset, Massachusetts. She attended Milton Academy and earned a history degree from Georgetown University, a master’s in early education from Pace University and a master’s in education policy and management from Harvard Graduate School of Education. A semester in Florence, Italy, fostered an interest in Tuscan Renaissance art and a talent for making pasta from scratch, according to the obituary.

She taught in New York City public schools through Teach for America, an experience the obituary said launched her education career. She later advocated for more equitable elementary education and charter schools, worked with technology companies seeking to improve school curricula and coached educators working with young students.

Kennedy was also a long-distance runner. She ran the 2019 Boston Marathon under her married name, Kyle Kerr. The Guardian reported that she finished in a driving rainstorm, 20 minutes faster than her father had run the race.

Her father, Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, was the sixth child of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy. He died at 39 in a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado, on Dec. 31, 1997.

Kennedy married Liam Kerr in Boston in 2012; the obituary describes him as her former husband. It remembered her devotion to their three children, Conor, Josephine — also called Josie — and Declan. She is survived by her sons Conor, 12, and Declan, 10; Kerr; her mother, Victoria Gifford Kennedy; and her siblings Michael LeMoyne Kennedy Jr. and Rory Gifford Kennedy. The Guardian reported that her funeral service was held privately.