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President Kennedy Visits Sister Kathleen’s Grave

June 29, 1963 - President Kennedy stood for two minutes with bowed head today at the grave of his sister Kathleen (pictured in 1940) in a tiny churchyard in the English midlands. With him with heads also bowed were another sister, Mrs. Jean Smith; his sister-in-law, Princess Lee Radziwill; the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire; and Lemoyne Billings, a close friend of the President. The group placed four wreaths at the grave of Kathleen — the wife of the heir of the Duke of Devonshire, the Marquis of Hartington. She died in a plane crash in Southern France on May 14, 1948, at the age of 28. Her husband was killed in action in France a few months after their marriage in 1944. This was Mr. Kennedy’s first visit in 14 years to the grave of his younger sister. He never before had seen the simple headstone bearing this tribute to Kathleen: “Joy She Gave — Joy She Has Found.”


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