“It takes a village to raise a child.” –African Proverb from Igbo and Yoruba regions of Nigeria
When Robert and Ethel Kennedy hired their nanny, Ena Bernard, in 1951 to nurture their newborn daughter Kathleen, she never imagined that she’d be a part of the “village” for the next 44 years. Bernard reared all 11 Kennedy children – Kathleen Hartington Kennedy, Joseph Patrick Kennedy III, Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr., David Anthony Kennedy, Mary Courtney Kennedy, Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, Mary Kerry Kennedy, Christopher George Kennedy, Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, Douglas Harriman Kennedy and Rory Elizabeth Katherine Kennedy.
She stayed on a part asa member of the family after the youngest child became and adult and left home.
Bernard, 105, died last week at the age of 105 at her home in Sunrise, Florida. 85-year-old Mrs. Ethel Kennedy attended the funeral with eight of her nine living children: Joe, Bobby, Kathleen, Kerry, Christopher, Maxwell, Douglas and Rory.
At the funeral, Bernard’s only child Josefina ‘Fina’ Harvin and three of the Kennedy children gave eulogies. She leaves six grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and nine Kennedy children to cherish her memory.
