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Grieving President Kennedy Joins Mrs. Kennedy

Aug. 9, 1963 - President Kennedy flew to Hyannis Port, Mass., this morning to join his wife 5½ hours after their premature infant son had died in Boston. The baby, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, died at 4:04 a.m. at Boston Children’s Medical Center 39 hours and 12 minutes following his birth. A Mass of The Angels, a Roman Catholic service for the infant dead, will be said at 10 a.m. tomorrow in the private chapel at the residence of Richard Cardinal Cushing in Brookline, President Kennedy’s birthplace. The burial will be in Holyhood Cemetery, Brookline. The body will be the first placed in a large family plot owned by the President’s father, Joseph P. Kennedy, who is at the family compound in Hyannis Port. Only members of the immediate family will attend the ceremonies at the chapel and the cemetery. None of the Kennedy children, including the President’s daughter, Caroline, nearly 6, and John Jr., 2½, will be present. President Kennedy, who had remained at the medical center in Boston through the night, took off in a helicopter at 9 a.m. for Cape Cod, and 35 minutes later he was with his wife at the Otis Air Force Base Hospital. Flying with Mr. Kennedy were his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and Dave Powers, a White House assistant and close personal friend. The President’s other brother, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, arrived later. President Kennedy spent two hours with Mrs. Kennedy in Ward 3703, the green-hued building where his wife has been since the birth of the child Wednesday. President Kennedy then motored to his leased cottage on Squaw Island to see their two children. The President also called on his father, who was paralyzed by a stroke in 1961 and whose cottage is about a mile from Squaw island. President Kennedy is known to become withdrawn when afflicted by great trouble. Although there were friends and family around, he dined alone last night and again tonight. Mrs. Kennedy’s physical condition was described today by Pierre Salinger, White House press secretary, who said: “Given the circumstances, her condition is satisfactory.”

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