Rory Kennedy has paid tribute to his late niece Kyle Kennedy following her tragic death at the age of 42.
“Kyle was a wonder – as a mother to her beautiful sons, as a daughter, as a sister, as a friend. And as a teacher, too,” Rory Said in a statement to People Tuesday
The documentary filmmaker described Kyle as “funny and fiery and much loved by all of us”.
“She will be greatly missed,” Rory lamented.
Rory Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, the 11th and youngest child.
Kyle, the daughter of Michael LeMoyne Kennedy – who died in 1997 – and Victoria Dennis Gifford, was one of Bobby and Ethel’s 34 grandchildren.
He died on September 21 at his Westwood, Massachusetts home. according to his obituary.
Kyle died six years after suffering a serious spinal cord injury that resulted in long-term paralysis.
In his final years, Kyle advocated for people with disabilities, even testifying in the Massachusetts State House at a hearing on disability health care discrimination.
She is survived by sons Conor, 12, and Declan, 10, who she had with Liam Kerr.
Kyle and Kerr were married in 2012, although the obituary referred to him as the deceased’s “ex-husband”.
During their time there, the exiles also welcomed Connor’s twin sister, daughter Josephine, but the infant died a few days after her birth.
Kyle is also survived by her two siblings – Michael, 43, and Rory, 38 – as well as four nieces and nephews and her mother.
Gifford gave birth to Kyle on July 6, 1984, in Washington, DC, with her then-husband Michael, who died in a skiing accident in 1997 at age 39.
Kyle attended Milton Academy, a private high school, before studying history at Georgetown University.
She later attended Pace University, where she earned a master’s degree in elementary education.
Kyle also attended Harvard University, where he received a master’s degree in education policy and management.
After graduating from college, she worked as a Teach for America teacher in New York City.