Robert Sargent Shriver

Official Press Release from the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute

American Idealist and Public Servant, Robert Sargent Shriver Jr., Is Mourned

Washington, D.C. (January 18, 2011) – Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. died this afternoon at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, MD, after a years-long decline due to Alzheimer's surrounded by his family. He was 95 years old. Near him at the time of his death were his five children: Robert “Bobby” Sargent Shriver III of Santa Monica, CA, Maria Owings Shriver of Los Angeles, CA, Timothy Perry Shriver of Chevy Chase, MD, Mark Kennedy Shriver of Bethesda, MD and Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver of Miami Beach, FL, as well as their spouses and all of his 19 grandchildren.

Husband of 56 years to the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was an international lawyer and administrator, ambassador and an advocate for the poor and powerless, and he compiled an unparalleled record of public service at every tier, from the local level to the world community. Sargent Shriver was born November 9, 1915 in Westminster, Maryland. He attended Yale University in 1934 and during college, Shriver was the senior editor of the Yale Daily News. Shriver enrolled in Yale Law School in 1938, receiving his L.L.B. in 1941 and went on to serve five years in active duty in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

In 1953, Shriver married Eunice Kennedy, sister of John F. Kennedy. Shriver’s commitment to public service made him one of the most effective leaders of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society in the 1960s. He inspired, directed, or founded numerous social programs and organizations, including Head Start, VISTA, Job Corps, Community Action, Upward Bound, Foster Grandparents, Special Olympics, the National Center on Poverty Law, Legal Services, and the Peace Corps, serving as the program’s first director under President Kennedy. Shriver also ran the War on Poverty during Johnson’s tenure as president. Shriver also served as U.S. ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970.

In 1972, Shriver was nominated by the Democratic Party as a candidate for Vice President with presidential candidate Senator George McGovern in the campaign against President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew. In 1978, Shriver began the Kennedy Institute of Ethics “Trialogue” between leaders of Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions, the first such forum for discussion since medieval Spain. Shriver lived at Sunrise at Fox Hill in Bethesda, MD until he was admitted to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, MD.

Shriver is survived by his five children; and his 19 grandchildren who range in age from one to twenty- three years.

Out of respect for the privacy of the family, no interviews are being granted at this time.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute
www.sargentshriver.org. Please visit www.sargentshriver.org to share a tribute online.

Funeral details and other memorial information will be posted at www.sargentshriver.org as they become available.