They Were Devout Catholics Who Sent Mary Jo to Parochial School Mary Jo Kopechne Funeral Mary Jo Kopechne's Story: en. My mom & First cousin Georgetta Potoski discusses the ongoing anguish the family still faces regarding the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick in 1969. Had he just failed in rescuing Mary-Jo,. [3] For that office she worked as a secretary to the senator's speechwriters and as a legal secretary to one of his legal advisers. It will now be featured in a Hollywood film. Mary Jo Kopechne died in July 1969, when his drove car off bridge on Chappaquiddick Island and left her in the car to drown. In 1969, she died in a car accident on Chappaquiddick Island, while being driven by U.S. A private funeral for Kopechne was held at St. Vincent's Roman Catholic Church in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, on July 22, 1969. The family lived in a modest home in a predominately Irish and Italian neighborhood. Kennedy managed to get out of the car and survived, but Kopechne died in the accident. During one call it was determined that Mary Jo Kopechne's parents needed to be notified. It also includes some of the hundreds of condolence letters that Kopechne's parents received. [24] Kopechne was buried in St. Vincent's Cemetery in Larksville, Pennsylvania,[1] in the parish cemetery on the side of Larksville Mountain. Mary Jo was the couple’s only child. [12][20] In the fall elections of 1968, Kopechne did work on the eventually losing re-election campaign of Senator Joseph S. Clark Jr. in Pennsylvania[18] and was assigned to recruit volunteers in Colorado for former Governor Stephen McNichols's run for the Senate against the incumbent Senator Peter H. [16], During the 1968 U.S. presidential election, Kopechne helped with the wording of Kennedy's March speech that announced his presidential candidacy. Here's what you need to know about her parents. Photos from news stories regarding Mary Jo Kopechne. “Gargan … Ted also told his chief aide to contact someone on the island to ensure that Kopechne… Kopechne was killed in an auto accident after a car being driven by Edward Kennedy ran off Dike Bridge into Pouch Pond off … Once, during March 1967, she stayed up all night at Kennedy's Hickory Hill home to type a major speech against the Vietnam War, while the senator and his aides such as Ted Sorensen made last-minute changes to it. And while the senator’s presidential aspirations were seemingly curtailed by what became known as the Chappaquiddick incident,… [3] She joined New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy's secretarial staff following his election in November 1964. ... Tough but fun in the classroom, creating speed challenges, expecting accuracy, and rewarding generously. They said that if he had alerted the police right away, their daughter might still be alive. When Mary Jo was four, he found work as an insurance salesman and moved the family to East Orange, New Jersey. “The group of girls she hung out with were all honor roll students,” said Emalene Fargnoli, a childhood friend. [9] She graduated with a degree in business administration from Caldwell College for Women in 1962. Last year her family received a letter from a … [1], The Chappaquiddick incident and Kopechne's death became the topic of at least 15 books, as well as a fictionalized treatment by Joyce Carol Oates. GettyReporters question American Senator Edward Kennedy (center, with neck brace) and his wife Joan Kennedy (left, in white coat and dark glasses) as they walk across the tarmac after returning from the funeral of Mary Jo Kopechne, Hyannis, Massachusetts, July 22, 1969. [5][32], In 2017, Kopechne was portrayed by actress Kate Mara in John Curran's film Chappaquiddick. On July 18, 1969, Ted Kennedy was involved in an infamous car crash that killed his 28-year-old passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne. [13] At the high school she taught typing and shorthand and was also an advisor to the school newspaper. MANCHESTER, N. H., July 11 (AP)—The parents of Mary Jo Kopechne and Senator Edward M. Kennedy have reached a financial settlement in the death of the secretary, who was killed when a … [18] She was on her way to a successful professional career;[21] one of the political professionals who worked with her in Jersey City characterized her as "an exceptionally hard-working and skillful professional who knew her craft". And she really represented that to me. 3. Mary Jo Kopechne was born on July 26, 1940, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA, to Gwen and Joseph Kopechne. Dominick. The July 31, 1969, letter was released to the paper by William Nelson and his mother, Georgetta Nelson Potoski, who are Kopechne’s cousins. [12] She also taught at Montgomery Catholic High School. Assistant Medical examiner Donald Mills signed a death certificate listing cause of death as accidental drowning. Directed by John Curran. A petition to exhume the body for autopsy was denied by a Pennsylvania court. [14] Kopechne's parents said that they learned of their daughter's death from Kennedy,[3] before he informed authorities of his involvement. Gwen has told reporters that the three of them were always very close; she said that she and her husband never needed to be strict with Mary Jo, whom she described as a hard working, but fun and cheerful girl who loved to spend time with them. [3][10], Kopechne was inspired by John F. Kennedy's inaugural command "Ask what you can do for your country". Mary Jo Kopechne (/koʊˈpɛkni/; July 26, 1940 – July 18 or 19, 1969) was an American secretary, one of the campaign workers for Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign, a close team known as the Boiler Room Girls. Mary Jo Kopechne was born in Forty Fort, Luzerne County. Late on the night of July 18, 1969, a black Oldsmobile driven by U.S. [14][17] Kopechne and the other staffers were knowledgeable politically,[17] and were chosen for their ability to work skillfully for long, hectic hours on sensitive matters. Joseph’s ancestors arrived from Austria at about the same time. 7. Ted Kennedy's car went flying 34ft through the air before plunging upside down into 8ft of water. Mary Jo Kopechne's parents Joseph and Gwen (aided by an unidentified friend or family member) walk down the steps, past other mourners and spectators, of St. Vincent's Roman Catholic Church after attending Mary Jo's funeral, Plymouth, Pennsylvania, July 22, 1969. Mary Jo Kopechne died not because Ted Kennedy crashed his car, but because the legacy was more important than telling the authorities she was in it. She is buried at St. Vincent’s Cemetery on Larksville Mountain, making her the fifth generation of her family to be interred there. But years earlier, Kopechne was tied Bobby Kennedy. [19] McNichols lost his run, and Kopechne went back to Washington, D.C. By mid-1969 she had completed work for the eventually successful mayoral campaign of Thomas J. Whelan in Jersey City, New Jersey. Kennedy returned to the hotel where he was … [28] Though newspaper headlines at the time identified her simply as a blonde, she was 28-year-old … Aired in 1991 on Current Affair.2018-03-29T15:44:26.000Z, Joseph and Gwen Kopechne both lived long lives. [4][5] She was the only child of Joseph Kopechne, an insurance salesman, and Gwen (née Jennings), a homemaker. [9] During his campaign, she worked as one of the Boiler Room Girls; this was an affectionate nickname given to six young women whose office area was in a hot, loud, windowless location in Kennedy's Washington campaign headquarters. I can't go back because it will never be the same again. [30] [26] Massachusetts officials pressed for weeks to have Kopechne's body exhumed for an autopsy,[27] but in December 1969 a Pennsylvania judge sided with the parents' request not to disturb her burial site. Mary Jo Kopechne … Kennedy did not call the police until the next day, when the car, and Kopechne’s body, had already been discovered. [7] She was a devout Roman Catholic with a demure, serious, "convent school" demeanor and rarely drank much.[7][20][21]. In 1969, Spitz testified on behalf of Joseph and Gwen Kopechne, the parents of Mary Jo Kopechne, who died following a car accident in the vehicle of Ted Kennedy at Chappaquiddick Island. [28] Even among otherwise sympathetic, mainstream biographers, serious questions remained about Kennedy's timeline of events that night, specifically his actions following the incident. Aired in 1991 on Current Affair. "[11], American teacher, secretary, and campaign specialist (1940–1969), Legal ruling, but there was no autopsy. [5] She was among the fifth generation of her family interred in that cemetery.[5]. After graduating from Caldwell College for Women in New Jersey, she moved to Washington where she worked as a secretary for George Smathers and Robert Kennedy. BOSTON, MA – With Senator Ted Kennedy’s passing, will we ever know the truth of the accident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne? [4] They subsequently moved to Swiftwater, Pennsylvania. Depicting Ted Kennedy's involvement in the fatal 1969 car accident that claims the life of a young campaign strategist, Mary Jo Kopechne. 6. They sent their daughter to Catholic school in elementary school and in high school. "[7][14] But as her father later said, "Politics was her life",[14] and in September 1968 she was hired by Matt Reese Associates,[19] a Washington, D.C., firm that helped establish campaign headquarters and field offices for politicians and was one of the first political consulting companies. [10] They learned Kennedy had been the driver from wire press releases some time later. Joseph died at age 90 in an East Stroudsburg nursing home, in 2003. After her death, Mary Jo’s parents, Gwen and Joe Kopechne, were “crushed” by rumors about their daughter and Sen. Kennedy that followed the accident. It seemed cosmically unfair that he should have a second act when she couldn't even complete her first. She could not see well and drove off the road into the water where she drowned. [3][8] Growing up, she attended parochial schools. Growing up, she studied in parochial schools. (Getty) Judge Bernard Brominski of Luzerne County Court took under advisement Monday a request by Miss Kopechne’s parents to deny the … Earlier a Massachusetts court made public the transcript of the secret inquest into their daughter's death in Senator Edward M. Kennedy's car last July. [14] On a national television broadcast that night, Kennedy said that he had not been driving "under the influence of liquor" nor had he ever had a "private relationship" with Kopechne. The Chappaquiddick incident was a single-vehicle car crash that occurred on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts some time around midnight between Friday, July 18, and Saturday, July 19, 1969. Kopechne herself had worked on Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign. Mary Jo Kopechne was raised in a devout Catholic family in New Jersey. Mary Jo Kopechne, the daughter of an insurance salesman, was born in the village of Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, on 26th July 1940. "[28], Kopechne's parents received a $141,000 settlement from Kennedy's insurance company. July 1969: Ted Kennedy talks deadly accident with Kopechne – Daily Mail, Forever known as the Chappaquiddick Incident after the Massachusetts island where it took place, the scandal in 1969 broke the Kennedy grip on the White House. But the region’s economy was faltering, and her father was having trouble finding work. [3][6][4] Kopechne was of part Polish heritage. [4] Her mother died in a nursing home in Plains Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in 2007. On that night, she attended a party with other women who had worked for the Kennedy family. The exact time and cause of Kopechne's death is not positively known, due to conflicting witness testimony at the January 1970 inquest, and lack of an autopsy. [14] The vehicle landed on its roof in Poucha Pond. He received a two-month suspended sentence. Mary Jo Kopechne's Story: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chappaquiddick_incident This song is an original composition. The family mystique helped to obscure this even more than machine politics did. ... She was humble and kind and stood firm in her beliefs. SYND 11-12-69 MARY JO KOPECHNE PARENTS GIVE PRESS STATEMANT, (11 Dec 1969) Parents of Mary Jo Kopechne, who died in Edward Kennedy's car at Chappaquiddick Island, give press statement after court denies exhumation of her body You can license this story through AP Archive: aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/fe6d64dcd5a09832cca6f6a23a40ebb1 Find out more about AP Archive: aparchive.com/HowWeWork. My Mom’s Interview about her cousin Mary Jo Kopechne in 1991 with Current AffairMy mom & First cousin Georgetta Potoski discusses the ongoing anguish the family still faces regarding the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick in 1969. But when none of them was able to rescue Kopechne, Kennedy still did not call the police, waiting until authorities had discovered the car — and Kopechne’s dead body — until he came forward. She then attended the Caldwell College for Women and graduated with a degree in business administration in 1962. Mary Jo Kopechne's parents Joseph and Gwen (aided by an unidentified friend or family member) walk down the steps, past other mourners and spectators, of St. Vincent's Roman Catholic Church after attending Mary Jo's funeral, Plymouth, Pennsylvania, July 22, 1969. Nonetheless, Kennedy overcame this and some lesser personal scandals to have a very long career as a Senator with a lengthy list of major legislative accomplishments. Werner Spitz-Wikipedia. Her father, Joseph, was a shipyard worker who commuted to New Jersey for work on the New Jersesy shipyards. [17] She has been described as hero-worshiping the senator. Ted emerged safely but Mary Jo Kopechne's body was recovered at 9am the next day. Berkeley Heights, New Jersey: Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kopechne, parents of Mary Jo Kopechne, appear in front of newsmen at their Berkeley Heights, New Jersey home April 29.... Erstklassige Nachrichtenbilder in hoher Auflösung bei Getty Images Senator Ted Kennedy. He commuted to a job in the New Jersey shipyards before eventually finding work as an accountant and moving his family to East Orange, New Jersey when Mary Jo was four years old. Gwen Kopechne lived to be 89 years old. [18], Kopechne lived with three other women in the Washington neighborhood of Georgetown. The crash was caused by Senator Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy's negligence and resulted in the death of his 28-year-old passenger Mary Jo Kopechne, who was trapped inside the vehicle. RIP Mary Jo Kopechne; july 18, 1969 in edgartown, massachusetts, united states. Edward Kennedy, widely known as Ted, had been driving back from a party on Chappaquiddick Island, off Martha's Vineyard, along…, My Mom’s Interview about her cousin Mary Jo Kopechne in 1991 with Current Affair. The family has deep roots in the Wyoming Valley in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania; Mary Jo’s roots in Wyoming County can be traced back 250 years. Kennedy extricated himself from the vehicle and survived, but neglected to inform authorities until the next day. [33], A full biography, Before Chappaquiddick: The Untold Story of Mary Jo Kopechne, by William C. Kashatus, was published by Potomac Books in 2020. [11] After graduation, Kopechne moved to Montgomery, Alabama, for a year at the Mission of St. Jude,[3] an activity that was part of the Civil Rights Movement. Kennedy failed to report the incident to the authorities until the car and Kopechne's body were discovered the next morning. [4] On the 25th anniversary of her death in 1994 they said that Kennedy had never apologized directly to them over his role in it, but that other members of the Kennedy family had written letters to them. [14] Kennedy drove the 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88[23] off a narrow, unlit bridge, which lacked guardrails and was not on the route to Edgartown. Kennedy later said that he had not been “under the influence” of alcohol while driving and said he did not have a “private relationship” with Kopechne. [32] Because Kopechne had been a great believer in education as well as her Catholic faith, the family members started a scholarship fund in Kopechne's name at nearby Misericordia University. "[11], By 1963, Kopechne relocated to Washington, D.C., to work as secretary for Florida Senator George Smathers. Gwen Kopechne, the mother of Mary Jo, was critical of Kennedy friends Joe Gargan and Paul Markham, according to The Smithsonian. ", "Kennedy memoir reveals remorse over Chappaquiddick", "In Focus: Mary Jo Kopechne before and beyond Chappaquiddick", FBI files on Mary Jo Kopechne and Chappaquiddick, United States Senator from Massachusetts, 1962–2009, Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mary_Jo_Kopechne&oldid=1011987878, People from Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Kennedy claimed the accident occurred shortly after he left the party at 11:15. WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (UPI) —A county court judge may rule Wednesday on whether the body of Mary Jo Kopechne can be exhumed for an autopsy designed to help lay to rest any “doubt and suspicion” surrounding her death in an auto driven by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. [9][14][15] She was also an enthusiastic participant on the Kennedy office softball team, playing catcher. [22] Robert's brother, Senator Ted Kennedy was there; Kopechne did not know him well. Kopechne was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania,[3] although she is sometimes described as being from nearby Forty Fort, Pennsylvania. [11] One former student recalled her as "a petite strawberry blonde with pep in her step. John Farrar, the fire rescue captain who retrieved the body on July 19, testified he believed that Kopechne stayed alive for up to half an hour in an air pocket, and ultimately suffocated in the submerged vehicle. Because Kopechne had been a great believer in education as well as her Catholic faith, the family members started a scholarship fund in Kopechne's name at nearby Misericordia University.