Stephen Smith

(CNN)Jean Kennedy Smith, a former diplomat and the last surviving sibling of President John F. Kennedy, died Wednesday in her New York apartment, her daughter, Kym Smith, told CNN. She was 92. "It is the end of an era," Kym Smith said of her mother's passing. "She lived a great life" and was vibrant up until her death, her daughter told CNN. Smith was the youngest daughter of Rose and Joseph Kennedy, born in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 20, 1928. She was the eighth child out of nine in a family that was such a major force in American politics and society for decades. Smith was the US ambassador to Ireland in the 1990s, playing a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process. At age 65, she was appointed to the role by President Bill Clinton and served from 1993 to 1998. Kym Smith told CNN her mother was most proud of the Ireland peace agreement she helped broker. "She did an amazing job on the peace process," Kym Smith said. "She worked tirelessly." Smith's first foray into national politics was campaigning for her elder brother, then-Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy, as he sought the presidency in 1960, according to the Kennedy presidential library. Smith would later accompany then-President Kennedy on his June 1963 visit to Ireland, the home of their ancestors, five months before his assassination in Dallas. Two of her other brothers, Robert F. Kennedy and Edward "Ted" Kennedy, both became US senators. In 1974, Smith founded Very Special Arts, a non-profit organization affiliated with the Kennedy Center that provides arts and education opportunities for people with disabilities. She was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 for her work with VSA. In 1956, she married the late Stephen E. Smith, a transportation executive. Together they had four children: Stephen Jr., William, Amanda and Kym.

Stephen Edward Smith was the husband of Jean Ann Kennedy. He was a financial analyst and political strategist in the 1960 United States presidential campaign of his brother-in-law John F. Kennedy. Born: September 24, 1927, Brooklyn, New York, NY Died: August 19, 1990, Manhattan, New York, NY Spouse: Jean Kennedy Smith (m. 1956–1990) Education: Georgetown University Children: Stephen Edward Smith Jr., William Kennedy Smith, Kym Maria Smith, Amanda Mary Smith. Early life Smith was born in Bayport, Long Island, New York, and grew up in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn. He attended Georgetown University, graduating in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in history. He served during the Korean War as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force from 1951–1952. Career Smith joined his family's business, Cleary Brothers Inc., which operated tugs and barges on New York's upstate canals and in New York Harbor. He then headed the Park Agency Inc., in Manhattan, where he managed $300 million in Kennedy family investments. After his father-in-law Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. suffered a stroke on December 19, 1961, Smith managed the family's fortune out of a New York City office building. He was responsible for overseeing the trusts that benefited him and his family as well as the other children and grandchildren of Joe and Rose Kennedy. Kennedy campaigns Smith played an active role in JFK's 1960 presidential campaign. He was working as Kennedy's campaign manager for re-election in 1964 at the time when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Smith served as United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy's campaign manager during his 1968 presidential run at the time when the Senator was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California on June 5, 1968. In the fall of 1979, as polls showed that Senator Ted Kennedy could easily defeat President Jimmy Carter in the Democratic primaries, Kennedy announced his candidacy and made Smith his campaign manager. Kennedy lost to Carter and chose to not run again. Personal life Smith and Jean Ann Kennedy were married May 19, 1956, at which point he became the brother-in-law of future President John F. Kennedy. Stephen and Jean had two biological sons and later adopted two daughters: Stephen Edward Smith, Jr. (b. 1957) William Kennedy Smith (b. 1960) Amanda Mary Smith (b. 1967) Kym Maria Smith (b. 1972) A longtime smoker, Smith died from lung cancer at his home in Manhattan on August 19, 1990, at age 62.