Countess Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy (July 22, 1890 — January 22, 1995)
Rose was an American philanthropist, the wife of Joseph Patrick “Joe” Kennedy, Sr., and the mother of nine children, including Joseph Patrick “Joe” Kennedy, Jr. President John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy, Senator Robert Francis “Bobby” Kennedy, and Senator Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy.
Rose was the daughter of prominent Boston politician, John Francis Fitzgerald. In 1914, she married Joseph P. Kennedy after a seven year courtship.
Rose devoted her life to raising her nine children. In her 1974 autobiography, Times to Remember, she wrote, “I looked on child rearing not only as a work of love and a duty, but as a profession that was fully as interesting and challenging as any honorable profession in the world and one that demanded the best I could bring to it….. What greater aspiration and challenge are there for a mother than the hope of raising a great son or daughter?”
In 1951, Pope Pius XII granted Rose the title of countess in recognition of her “exemplary motherhood and many charitable works. Well known for her philanthropic efforts and for leading the Grandparents’ Parade at age 90 at the Special Olympics, Rose’s life and work are documented in the Oscar-nominated short documentary Rose Kennedy: A Life to Remember.
