Two of her sons, David and Michael, are buried in the Kennedy Family Plot at Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline. Holyhood is also the final resting place of Ethel's in-laws, Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. Her parents, George and Ann Skakel, who died in a plane crash in 1955, were laid to rest in Saint Mary Cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Ethel Kennedy was the oldest living member of the politically famous Kennedy family and spent a considerable amount of time on Cape Cod. The Kennedy compound is near the church in Hyannisport. Family began arriving on Cape last week, and some were seen on the sailboat Glide.

Several politicians and relatives, including her son Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, the actress Cheryl Hines, were in attendance.