George Skakel is an American businessman and the founder of Great Lakes Carbon Corporation, part of SGL Carbon. He is also popular as the father of Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy. George Skakel’s daughter shortly after her husband’s 1968 assassination, Kennedy founded the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, a non-profit charity working to reach his goal of a just and peaceful world. Who is Ethel Kennedy’s father?

George Skakel: Bio Summary

Full NameGeorge Skakel
famous as*Businessman
* Ethel Kennedy’s father
Age63
Date of BirthJuly 16, 1892
Place of Birth United States of America
Date of deathOctober 3, 1955
Zodiac signCancer
NationalityAmerican
EthnicityCaucasian
Children Rushton Walter Skakel, Patricia Sistine Skakel, 
George Skakel Jr., Ann Skakel, Georgeann Skakel, James Skakel, and George Skakel
SpouseAnn Brannack (m. 1917)

Who is Ethel Kennedy’s father?

George Skakel was born on July 16, 1892 in Chicago, Illinois. He is the son of businessman James Curtis Skakel and Grace Mary Jordan. He parents were Protestants of Dutch ancestry. He was not the only child of the couple, he had an elder brother William Skakel, a younger sister Margaret Skakel, and a younger brother James Curtis Skakel Jr.

Skakel got married to his former secretary Ann Brannack on 25 November 1917, in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States. They were the parents of of seven children- 3 son- James Curtis Skakel III, George Skakel Jr. andRushton Walter Skakel- and 4 daughters- Georgeann Skakel Dowdle-Terrien, Patricia Sistine Skakel Cuffe, Ethel Skakel Kennedy and Ann Skakel McCooey.

ALSO, READ; Ethel Kennedy’s siblings-  Rushton Walter Skakel, Patricia Sistine Skakel, George Skakel Jr., Ann Skakel, Georgeann Skakel, and James Skakel.

The family lived in Larchmont, Westchester, New York, United States in 1935 and Greenwich, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States for about 15 years. George Skakel also registered for military service in 1918.

How Ethel Kennedy’s father, George Skakel get rich?

Skakel started out as a train shipment clerk, earning $8 per week. While working for the railroad, he became aware of the price instability of coal fines for coke, a byproduct of generating more-in-demand kinds of coal. Coal mining businesses were frequently obliged to stockpile coke or pay to have it disposed of in rivers. Skakel devised a plan to obtain coke from coal firms. Skakel and two partners put in $1,000 in May 1919 to form The Great Lakes Coal & Coke Company.

Per sources, the company would buy coke from coal companies and reprocess it into clean carbon, which would then be used to make aluminum. Skakel was a multi-millionaire by 1929. The company developed to become The Great Lakes Carbon Corporation, one of the largest privately held enterprises in the United States.

ALSO, READ; Ann Brannack: What happened to Ethel Kennedy’s mother?

What happened to Ethel Kennedy’s father?

Ethel Kennedy’s Parents George Skakel and Ann Brannack was killed together on October 3, 1955 when their private plane they were traveling in crashed near Union City, Oklahoma. Much details have not been given about the crush. They couple were laid to rest at Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut.

After Skakel’s death in 1955, his eldest sons George Jr. (who also died in a plane crash, in 1966) and James III took over the business. Only two of Skakel’s children are alive as of 2023- Ethel Skakel Kennedy and Ann Skakel McCooey. His eldest child, Georgeann Skakel Dowdle-Terrien passed away in 1983, James Curtis Skakel III passed away in 1998 and George Skakel Jr. also died 1966. Rushton Walter Skakel and Patricia Sistine Skakel Cuffe both died in the early 2000s; 2003 and 2000 respectively.

ALSO, READ; Ann Skakel: Is Ethel Kennedy’s sister Still alive?

The two children who are still alive- Ethel Skakel Kennedy is 95 years old as of 2023 and her younger sister Ann Skakel McCooey is 90 years old. Ethel was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pbXCsqurnZ6ZwG%2BvzqZmoJ2fp7SmedKkmKSdnGLEqa3TZp%2BaqKCau6awjK2mZp2knbKtecqepaedlK7AbrLArZ%2Beql8%3D