Mary Jo Kopechne
| Mary Jo Kopechne | |
|---|---|
1962 college yearbook portrait of Kopechne
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| Born |
July 26, 1940 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | July 18, 1969 (aged 28) Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Caldwell College |
| Occupation | teacher, secretary, political campaign specialist |
| Known for | Chappaquiddick incident |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Parent(s) | Joseph and Gwen Kopechne |
Mary Jo Kopechne (/koʊˈpɛkni/; July 26, 1940 – July 18, 1969) was an American teacher, secretary, and political campaign specialist who died in a car accident at Chappaquiddick Island on July 18, 1969, while a passenger in a car being driven by U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy.
Kopechne was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Her father, Joseph Kopechne, was an insurance salesman, and her mother, Gwen (née Jennings), was a homemaker. Kopechne was of part Polish heritage.
When Kopechne was an infant, the family moved to Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. She attended parochial schools growing up. She graduated with a degree in business administration from Caldwell College for Women in 1962.
After graduation, Kopechne moved to Montgomery, Alabama, to teach for a year at the Mission of St. Jude, an activity that was part of the Civil Rights Movement.
By 1963, Kopechne relocated to Washington, D.C., to work as secretary for Florida Senator George Smathers. She joined New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy's secretarial staff following his election in November 1964. For that office she worked as a secretary to the senator's speechwriters and as a legal secretary to one of his legal advisers. Kopechne was a loyal worker. 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 Sorenson made last-minute changes to it. She was also an enthusiastic participant on the Kennedy office softball team, playing catcher.
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