The life, work, and wisdom of Sargent Shriver began in Westminster
by Kevin Dayhoff January 18, 2011 This story has been updated January 19, 2011 1:43 PM
Shriver, who was born November 9, 1915, lived several childhood years on Willis Street in Westminster.
Shriver was a member of the historic Shriver family in Carroll County, known as community, political and business leaders; whose heritage has been, in part, preserved by the Union Mills Homestead.
He was predeceased by his wife, Eunice Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy’s sister, and the daughter of Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy. They were married on May 23, 1953. Mrs. Shriver was the founder and chair of Special Olympics International and the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation.
The Shrivers had five children, one of whom, Maria Owings Shriver, is married to another well-known national personality, the former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Throughout the Shriver’s lifetime they received numerous awards for their work with children. In 1962, when no one spoke in public about the mentally handicapped, the Shrivers broke the ice to highlight the plight of the handicapped.
It was then that Eunice Shriver “revealed her sister's condition to the nation during her brother's presidency in a 1962 article for the Saturday Evening Post,” according to a number of historical accounts of Shriver’s incredible life of service to our nation.
A year earlier, in 1961, President Kennedy “signed a bill the Shrivers championed to form the first President's Committee on Mental Retardation,” according to news accounts.
It was on November 18, 1988, the community was abuzz in anticipation of one of Carroll County’s most celebrated native sons, Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. returning to town to help celebrate the “City of Westminster’s 150th Anniversary Dinner”.
The program for the 1988 event listed Shriver’s “unparalleled record of public service at the local, national, and international level: International lawyer … advocate for the poor… He is a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School and he served in the U.S. Navy for 5 years.
“He worked briefly as an editorial assistant at Newsweek Magazine before joining the staff of Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy.” Later he became one of the guiding forces of programs developed and supported by the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation.
He served under President Kennedy, as the organizer and first Director of the Peace Corps and as the first Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity.
He “created VISTA, Head Start, Community Action, Foster Grandparents, Job Corps, Legal Services, Indian and Migrant Opportunities, and Neighborhood Health Services…”
He also served, as Special Assistant to President Lyndon Johnson and as ambassador to France. He was nominated as Senator George McGovern's running mate in the presidential election of 1972 and ran for president himself in 1976.
Known as a devout Catholic, he remains the last - since 1976 - anti-abortion candidate to run for president or vice president for the Democratic Party.
In 1984 he was elected President of Special Olympics International, where he administered the operation and development of sports programs for individuals with mental retardation in every state… and 65 foreign nations.
Shriver also has a special connection with the burial of President John F. Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery on November 25, 1963. It was Shriver who suggested that Arlington Cemetery be the fallen president’s final resting place.
A November 30, 1988 newspaper account of the event described that Shriver spoke to “an audience of about 520 gathered at Martin’s Westminster about the Carroll County” in which he was raised.
“We really didn’t have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day because we lived it and so did everyone in Westminster… The things I’ve learned here (in Westminster) are more important than what I’ve learned in all the other places I’ve lived since.”
Sadly, in recent years, Shriver suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. His daughter, Maria Shriver Schwarzenegger, published a children’s book in 2004, “What's Happening to Grandpa?” to help explain Alzheimer's to children.
Sargent Shriver, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 8, 1994, once summed it best: “Nearly everybody in their life needs someone to help them. I don't care whether you're the greatest self-made man; the fact is, somebody has helped you along the way.”
We can all be proud that Sargent Shriver found the roots for his lifetime commitment to public service in
Westminster. Our nation and the world have all greatly benefited from the life, wisdom, and work of this great man - who began his journey on
Willis Street.
The funeral for R. Sargent Shriver will be Our Lady of Mercy Parish Catholic Church in Potomac, MD, this Saturday. Although a time for the funeral has not been publicized, various news reports indicate that attendance for the Mass for Shriver is by invitation only.
No word yet as to where he will be buried. It has been said over the years that he owns a burial plot in the historic St. John Catholic Church cemetery in the middle of downtown Westminster. However, it is not known at this time if he will be buried in his beloved hometown.
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