Special Olympics founder remembered for ‘love and service to others’

 

Eunice Kennedy Shriver

1921-2009
Eunice
Kennedy Shriver, the sister of former president John F. Kennedy and the
founder of Special Olympics, has died.  Shriver passed away earlythis
morning in a Cape Cod hospital near the Hyannis Port compound where her
only surviving brother, Senator Edward Kennedy, is battling brain cancer.
In a statement, her family described Shriver
as the “light of our lives ... who taught us by example and with
passion what it means to live a faith-driven life of love and service
to others.”
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'She set out to save the world'

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Shriver
organized the first event for disabled children at her own home in her backyard swimming pool in 1968.

“She
was a living prayer, a living advocate, a living center of power,” her
family's statement added. “She set out to change the world and to
change us, and she did that and more.

Her family went on to say that inspired in part by her sister Rose, who was mentally disabled, “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.” Throught it all, Eunice Kennedy and her family were right there to cheer on the athletes around the globe.
Shriver
was an uncommon woman in a common world whom I included in a series on
the five women I most admired titled, "Lonely Are The Brave."
She
is survived by her husband, Sargeant Shriver, three sons, and her
daughter, television journalist Maria Shriver who is married to the
governor of California and former actor, Arnold Schwarzneggar.  In
addition to her brother, Edward, she is also survived by her sister
Jean Kennedy Smith.   Six brothers and sisters preceded her in death.  
She was the middle child of nine born to Joseph P. Kennedy and his wife
Rose.

We shall not soon see her likes again.
Taken in part from an AP story on:/a>