Kitty Dukakis, the wife of former Massachusetts Governor And 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, died at the age of 88, has confirmed Fox News Digital.
Her son, John Dukakis, said that the wife and mother of three Friday night died ‘surrounded by family’.
“She was born on December 26, 1936 and lived a full life to make the world a better place and to share her vulnerabilities to help others face,” he said in a statement. “She was loving, spicy and fun and had a sharp sensitivity to people from all layers of life. She and our father, Michael Dukakis, shared an envious partnership for more than 60 years and loved each other deeply. Thank you to everyone who has touched our lives over the years or who were touched by our mother.”
Michael and Kitty Dukakis respond to the cheers of the delegates at the end of the Democratic National Convention. (Getty Images)
The Washington Post and the New York Times both reported that John Dukakis said that his mother’s death was complications of dementia and that she died in her house in Brookline, Mass.
Kitty Dukakis was the First Lady of Massachusetts during the three non -subsequent periods of her husband and supported Michael Dukakis during his failed presidential run against vice -president George HW Bush.
In what was considered a crucial moment of the campaign, Michael Dukakis Was asked by CNN moderator Bernard Shaw during the first presidential debate: “Governor, if Kitty Dukakis was raped and murdered, would you give an irrevocable death penalty for the murderer?” He just replied: “No, I don’t do that, Bernard” and continued to repeat his opposition against the death penalty.
Kitty Dukakis later said that her husband admitted: “I really stayed”, with an answer that was generally seen as emotionless and tone deaf. She also condemned the question as ‘scandalous’.
Massachusetts Gov. John Dukakis and Kitty Dukakis are on stage to agree with the loss of his presidential campaign in Boston, November 1988. (Mikki Anin/Getty images)
In her 60s, Kitty Dukakis, supported by her husband, was an advocate for electroconvulsi therapy To treat depression. She wrote books that opened about her addiction to diet pills and alcohol.
She was with a Jewish background, although her husband was Greek Orthodox. An old lawyer who was involved in projects on topics, including homeless people, refugees and AIDS, Kitty Dukakis was appointed by former President Jimmy Carter, and by former President HW Bush, the former rival of her husband, to committees that led to the establishment of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum In Washington, DC
Michael and Kitty Dukakis talk to journalists awaiting the results of the Massachusetts Democratic Gubernatorial Primary in Boston on September 19, 1978. (Barbara Alper/Getty images)
Click here to get the Fox News app
Her father was Ellis Dickson, the first violinist at the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a conductor of the Boston Pops. She described a more complicated relationship with her mother, Jane (Goldberg) Dickson, in her first book ‘Now you know’.
