Joan Bennett Kennedy, the first wife of a US senator, the mother of a congressman and the sister-in-law of a slain president, has died at the age of 89, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr said on Wednesday.

A daughter of privilege who could trace her lineage back to one of the victims of the Salem witch trials, Joan Kennedy’s marriage to Edward Kennedy tied her to an American political dynasty and tumultuous personal life marred by bouts of alcoholism.

She passed away peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday at her home in Boston, her nephew Robert F. Kennedy Jnr said in a social media post.

“She was my friend, confidante, and my partner in recovery. Joan inspired me with her courage and humility,” he wrote.

Virginia Joan Bennett was born into a wealthy Catholic family and attended the private Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in suburban New York.

In 1958 she married Edward ‘Ted’ Kennedy and the couple moved to Boston. In 1960, she gave birth to their first child, Kara, followed by Ted Jnr in 1961 and Patrick in 1967.