Joan Bennett Kennedy, the first wife of late Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, has died in her Boston home at the age of 89.

Kennedy, born Joan Bennett, passed away peacefully in her sleep early Wednesday morning, a family spokesman confirmed. 

She was was a model and classically-trained pianist when Ted’s older sister Jean Kennedy introduced the pair in 1957.

The couple got engaged within a year and tied the knot in 1958 in her hometown of Bronxville, New York. They remained married for 24 years and had three children together: Kara, Ted Jr, and Patrick.

They divorced in 1983, but Kennedy was long-remembered for the struggles she endured throughout their marriage.

She endured several miscarriages, including one that occurred soon after Ted drove a car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969, resulting in the death of his young female passenger.

She supported Ted as he attended the victim’s funeral, admitted to leaving the scene of an accident, and as his infidelity and excessive drinking became topics of national interest.

Kennedy battled her own demons, having fought alcoholism and depression for many years. She became one of the first leading ladies in America to publicly address her struggles and was an advocate for mental health and addiction services.

Joan Kennedy in a beaded white formal dress, circa 1970

Ted Kennedy stands to the right of his Joan Bennett at their New York wedding in 1958

The former Joan Bennett was born in New York City on September 2, 1936. She was raised in a Roman Catholic family in the tiny suburb of Bronxville.

She met Jean Kennedy, who introduced her to Ted, while both women were studying at Manhattanville College.

Joan Kennedy was a model and classically-trained pianist when she married Ted in 1958. 

But the couple’s lives changed drastically during their 15 years of marriage.

Kennedy’s brother-in-law John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960 and assassinated three years later. 

Her brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy served as attorney general under JFK, was elected to the Senate in 1964 and assassinated while seeking the presidency.

Her husband was elected to the Senate in 1962 and became among the country’s most respected legislators despite initial misgivings that he was capitalizing on his family connections. 

Kennedy was forced to stand by her husband as he battled scandals of his own making. 

Ted Kennedy, Joan Bennett Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, John Kennedy Jr and Caroline Kennedy are pictured together at the 1965 JFK memorial in Runnymede, Britain

Joan Kennedy is pictured leaving a lunch with Luciana Avedon, Father Francis Murphy and jewelry designer Joan Guerreiro in New York

In 1969, the car Ted plunged the car he was driving plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island. His passenger Mary Jo Kopechne died in the crash.

Ted, who swam to safety and waited hours before alerting police, later pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident. 

The Chappaquiddick tragedy shadowed him for the rest of his life, weighing against his own chances for the presidency.

Kennedy stood by her husband through the scandal, but their estrangement was nearly impossible to hide by the time of his unsuccessful effort to defeat President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 Democratic primaries. 

The couple had formally separated in 1978, but did not divorce until after Ted’s failed presidential campaign. One bumper sticker from Carter’s campaign read ‘Vote for Jimmy Carter, Free Joan Kennedy.’

Kennedy and Ted publicly announced their plans to divorce in 1981. The dissolution of their marriage was finalized nearly two years later. 

She never remarried, but Ted – who served as a senator until his death in 2009 – did take a second wife. 

He was married to Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the current Ambassador to the Republic of Austria, from 1990 until he passed away from a brain tumor at the age of 77.

The Kennedy family pays tribute at Robert F Kennedy’s grave on what would have been his 47th birthday, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on November 20, 1971

Joan Kennedy, Maurice Templesman and Jackie Onassis circa 1986 in New York City

Kennedy turned to alcohol as she tried to cope with the tragedies and scandals that plagued her very public life.

In an 1978 interview with People Magazine, Kennedy admitted that she sometimes ‘drank to block out unhappiness, to drown my sorrows.’

She told the outlet how she was an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous and despite working the program, found that ‘staying sober is difficult.’

‘But I’m sober today, and that’s all that matters. I’m working on my recovery a day at a time,’ she said in the interview. 

Kennedy struggled maintaining her sobriety for decades and was arrested four times for drunk driving.

She was also hospitalized in March 2005 after being found sprawled out on a Boston sidewalk with a broken shoulder and concussion.

She was ordered to enter an alcohol treatment program later that year and appointed a guardian to manage her personal affairs. She was also assigned two trustees to manage her estate.

Her three children led the calls for guardianship, with a judge ruling Kennedy was ‘incapable of taking care of herself by reason of mental illness’.

‘Mrs. Kennedy was a classically trained pianist, an advocate for mental health and addiction recovery, and a quiet pioneer in publicly addressing challenges with alcoholism and depression at a time when few others would,’ her son Patrick Kennedy and his wife Amy said in a statement.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.