Industry Mourns Eunice Shriver

The industry is in mourning following the passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics, who has died aged 88.

Shriver, who was the sister of US President John F Kennedy, died at Cape Cod hospital in Massachusetts, her family said in a statement.

She organised the first Special Olympic Games in 1968, partly inspired by her mentally disabled sister, Rosemary Kennedy, and is credited with helping to transform views of the mentally disabled through her campaigns.

Shriver had been in critical condition at Cape Cod hospital since last week. Her diagnosis was not given, but she had suffered a series of strokes in recent years.

After earning a degree in sociology from Stanford University in 1943, she became a social worker at a women’s prison before taking a job at the Chicago juvenile court.

In 1957 she took over the Joseph P Kennedy Jr Foundation for the mentally disabled.

The Special Olympics grew from a summer camp at Shriver’s home in Maryland in 1962. The Games were designed to give opportunities to people with mental disabilities to be considered athletes in their own right.

The first Games were held in 1968 in Chicago. Lasting two days, they attracted more than 1,000 participants from 26 US states and Canada. Recent summer Games have drawn thousands of athletes from more than 160 countries.

In a statement, her family said: ‘She was 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.

‘We have always been honoured to share our mother with people of goodwill the world over who believe, as she did, that there is no limit to the human spirit.’

Mrs Shriver is survived by her husband Sargent Shriver – who served as President Kennedy’s first director of the Peace Corps and was George McGovern’s vice-presidential running mate in 1972 – and her five children.