A former political staple has passed on.

Joan Bennett Kennedy , the first wife of Senator Ted Kennedy , died Oct. 8 at her Boston home, according to her obituary . She was 89.

Born in 1936, Joan entered the public eye four years after marrying Ted—the younger brother of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy —as he began his own journey into politics, starting with his 1962 election to the U.S. Senate.

She stuck by his side through the assassinations of his brothers as well as his infamous 1969 Chappaquiddick accident, though the couple—who shared sons Ted Jr. , 64, and Patrick , 58, as well as daughter Kara , who died of a heart attack in 2011—ultimately divorced in 1982.

An accomplished classical pianist, Joan made her own mark as a member of the Kennedy family th

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