Funeral for RFK's Granddaughter Saoirse to Be Held at Kennedy Family's Beloved Church
The Kennedy family has announced funeral arrangements for their beloved granddaughter and daughter Saoirse Kennedy Hill.
PEOPLE confirms a funeral will be held on Monday at Our Lady of Victory Church in Centerville, which is less than five miles away from the Kennedys’ Massachusetts compound, where Saoirse died Thursday after a suspected overdose.
Brian Wright O’Connor, a spokesman for one of Hill’s uncles, issued a statement also revealing that the family will host a private burial service after, according to The Boston Globe.
The church became a Kennedy family staple after they stopped regularly attending former President John F. Kennedy’s favorite, St. Francis Xavier Church, according to South Coast Today.
RELATED: Kennedy Family Is Handling Saoirse’s Death with ‘Tremendous Sadness’: Family Friend Says
The famous political family confirmed the tragic news of Saoirse’s death in a statement to PEOPLE, just hours after paramedics rushed to their Hyannis Port property.
“Our hearts are shattered by the loss of our beloved Saoirse. Her life was filled with hope, promise, and love,” the family said. “She cared deeply about friends and family, especially her mother Courtney, her father Paul, her stepmother Stephanie, and her grandmother Ethel.”
Ethel Kennedy, 91, also said of her granddaughter’s unexpected passing, “The world is a little less beautiful today.”
“She lit up our lives with her love, her peals of laughter and her generous spirit,” the family said. “[She] was passionately moved by the causes of human rights and women’s empowerment and found great joy in volunteer work, working alongside indigenous communities to build schools in Mexico. We will love her and miss her forever.”
Saoirse was the only daughter of Courtney Kennedy Hill, 62, and Paul Hill, 65.
On Friday, the local prosecutor’s office confirmed that police responded to the scene, in Hyannis Port, one day earlier at about 3 p.m.
The Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office did not specify the nature of the police call in their statement on Friday, beyond saying that Saoirse was found unresponsive at the scene and pronounced dead at a local hospital.
“An autopsy performed today has revealed no trauma inconsistent with lifesaving measures,” prosecutors said. “The cause and manner of death are pending the toxicology report.”
Both local and state police are currently investigating, according to the D.A.’s office statement on Friday.
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