Members of the Kennedy family gather for funeral of Ethel Kennedy

CENTERVILLE, Mass. (AP) — Members of the Kennedy family gathered Monday for the funeral of Ethel Kennedy, the wife of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.

Ethel Kennedy, who raised their 11 children after her husband was assassinated and remained dedicated to social causes and the family’s legacy, died on Thursday at age 96.

Monday's funeral, which was closed to the public, took place at Our Lady of Victory, in Centerville, Massachusetts, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Boston.

Mourners gathered at the church under a cool gray sky. Ethel Kennedy died following complications related to a stroke suffered earlier this month.

“Along with a lifetime’s work in social justice and human rights, our mother leaves behind nine children, 34 grandchildren and 24 great-great-grandchildren, along with numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom love her dearly,” the family statement said in announcing her death.

President Joe Biden called her “an American icon — a matriarch of optimism and moral courage, an emblem of resilience and service.”

The Kennedy matriarch, mother to Kathleen, Joseph II, Robert Jr., David, Courtney, Michael, Kerry, Christopher, Max, Douglas and Rory, was one of the last remaining members of a family generation that included President John F. Kennedy. Her family said she had recently enjoyed seeing many of her relatives before falling ill.

A millionaire’s daughter who married the future senator and attorney general in 1950, Ethel Kennedy had endured more death by the age of 40, for the whole world to see, than most people would in a lifetime.

She was by Robert F. Kennedy’s side when he was fatally shot in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, just after winning California’s Democratic presidential primary. Her brother-in-law had been assassinated in Dallas less than five years earlier.

Ethel Kennedy went on to found the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights soon after her husband’s death and advocated for causes including gun control and human rights. She rarely spoke about her husband’s assassination.

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, center, grandson of the late Ethel Kennedy, departs Our Lady of Victory church following funeral services for Ethel Kennedy, wife of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Chris Kennedy, center, son of Ethel Kennedy, departs Our Lady of Victory church following funeral services for Ethel Kennedy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, center right above, grandson of the late Ethel Kennedy, speaks with Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, below left, as they depart Our Lady of Victory church following funeral services for Ethel Kennedy, wife of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Caroline Kennedy, center, daughter of Pres. John F. Kennedy, speaks with people as she departs Our Lady of Victory church following funeral services for Ethel Kennedy, wife of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Joseph Kennedy III, grandson of Ethel Kennedy, pauses on the steps of Our Lady of Victory church following funeral services for Ethel Kennedy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Former Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, center left, son of the late Ethel Kennedy, speaks with fellow mourners outside Our Lady of Victory church, following funeral services for Ethel Kennedy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Joseph Kennedy III, center right, grandson of Ethel Kennedy, hugs fellow mourners following funeral services at Our Lady of Victory church for Ethel Kennedy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

James Kennedy, great grandson of Ethel Kennedy, wife of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, is seated in a vehicle that forms part of a funeral procession departing Our Lady of Victory church, following funeral services for Ethel Kennedy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Mourners depart Our Lady of Victory church following funeral services for Ethel Kennedy, wife of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Joseph Kennedy III, center, grandson of Ethel Kennedy, speaks to his wife Lauren Birchfield, second right, following funeral services for Ethel Kennedy at Our Lady of Victory church, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, center, speaks with Monsignor Kenneth Velo, right, following funeral services for Ethel Kennedy, wife of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, at Our Lady of Victory church, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Mourners hug following funeral services for Ethel Kennedy, wife of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, at Our Lady of Victory church, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A funeral procession departs Our Lady of Victory church following services for Ethel Kennedy, wife of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Former Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, center right, son of the late Ethel Kennedy, arrives at Our Lady of Victory church, for Ethel Kennedy's funeral, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

FILE - Robert F. Kennedy, 38-year-old American attorney general and brother of the late U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, is accompanied by his wife Ethel, leaving the U.S. Embassy for the airport in London, Jan. 25, 1964, to fly to Derbyshire to visit the grave of his sister who died in 1947 in a plane crash. (AP Photo/Laurence Harris, File)

Joseph Kennedy III, center right, grandson of the late Ethel Kennedy arrives at Our Lady of Victory church, for Ethel Kennedy's funeral, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

FILE - Ethel Kennedy, from the film "Ethel," poses for a portrait during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Victoria Will, File)

Pallbearers Max Kennedy, left, Chris Kennedy, behind center left, both sons of the late Ethel Kennedy, and Matt Kennedy, center front, and, Joseph Kennedy III, front second from right, both grandsons of Ethel Kennedy, carry her casket from Our Lady of Victory church, following funeral services, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Centerville, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Mia Love of Utah, a daughter of Haitian immigrants who became the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, died Sunday.

She was 49.

Love's family posted news of her death on Love's X account.

She had undergone recent treatment for brain cancer and received immunotherapy as part of a clinical trial at Duke University’s brain tumor center. Her daughter said earlier this month that the former lawmaker was no longer responding to treatment.

Love died at her home in Saratoga Springs, Utah, according to a statement posted by the family.

“With grateful hearts filled to overflowing for the profound influence of Mia on our lives, we want you to know that she passed away peacefully,” her family said. “We are thankful for the many good wishes, prayers and condolences."

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox referred to Love as a “true friend" and said in a statement that her legacy of service inspired all who knew her.

Love entered politics in 2003 after winning a seat on the city council in Saratoga Springs, a growing community about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City. She later became the city’s mayor.

In 2012, Love narrowly lost a bid for the House against the Democratic incumbent, former Rep. Jim Matheson, in a district that covers a string of Salt Lake City suburbs. She ran again two years later and defeated first-time candidate Doug Owens by about 7,500 votes.

Love didn’t emphasize her race during her campaigns, but she acknowledged the significance of her election after her 2014 victory. She said her win defied naysayers who had suggested that a Black, Republican, Mormon woman couldn’t win a congressional seat in overwhelmingly white Utah.

She was briefly considered a rising star within the GOP and she kept her distance from Donald Trump, who was unpopular with many Utah voters, while he was running for president ahead of the 2016 election.

In an op-ed published earlier this month in the Deseret News, Love described the version of America she grew up loving and shared her enduring wish for the nation to become less divisive. She thanked her medical team and every person who had prayed for her.

Love said her parents immigrated to the U.S. with $10 in their pocket and a belief that hard work would lead to success. She said she was raised to believe passionately in the American dream and “to love this country, warts and all.” America at its roots is respectful, resilient, giving and grounded in gritty determination, she said.

Her career in politics exposed Love to America's ugly side, but she said it also gave her a front row seat to be inspired by people's hope and courage. She shared her wish for neighbors to come together and focus on their similarities rather than their differences.

“Some have forgotten the math of America — whenever you divide you diminish,” Love wrote.

She urged elected officials to lead with compassion and communicate honestly with their constituents.

“In the end, I hope that my life will have mattered and made a difference for the nation I love and the family and friends I adore,” Love wrote. “I hope you will see the America I know in the years ahead, that you will hear my words in the whisper of the wind of freedom and feel my presence in the flame of the enduring principles of liberty. My living wish and fervent prayer for you and for this nation is that the America I have known is the America you fight to preserve.”

In 2016, facing reelection and following the release of a 2005 recording in which Trump made lewd comments about groping women, Love skipped the Republican National Convention and released a statement saying definitively that she would not vote for Trump. She instead endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the GOP race, but he dropped out months later.

While seeking a third term in 2018, Love tried to separate herself from Trump on trade and immigration while still backing her party's positions on tax cuts. Despite Republican voters outnumbering Democrats by a nearly three-to-one margin in her district, though, she lost by fewer than 700 votes to Democrat Ben McAdams, a former Salt Lake County mayor.

Trump called out Love by name in a news conference the morning after she lost, where he also bashed other Republicans who didn’t fully embrace him.

“Mia Love gave me no love, and she lost,” Trump said. “Too bad. Sorry about that, Mia.”

After her loss, Love served as a political commentator on CNN and as a fellow at the University of Sydney.

Following Trump’s election in November, Love said she was “OK with the outcome.”

“Yes, Trump says a lot of inconsiderate things that are unfortunate and impossible to defend," Love wrote in a social media post. “However, his policies have a high probability of benefiting all Americans.”

Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

FILE - Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, speaks on the Senate Floor, Feb. 22, 2018, at the Utah State Capitol, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, is seen before a House Financial Services committee hearing on the annual report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

FILE - Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, talks about election results in the 4th Congressional District at the Utah Republican Party headquarters, Nov. 26, 2018, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Mia Love, the Republican nominee in Utah's 4th congressional district, smiles after speaking during a rally in Lehi, Utah, Oct. 8, 2014. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Republican Mia Love and Democrat Doug Owens shake hands after a debate in Salt Lake City, May 20, 2014. (Jeffrey D. Allred/The Deseret News via AP, File)

FILE - Mia Love, Mayor of Saratoga Springs and candidate for Utah's 4th district congressional seat, gives a TV interview at the Republican election night party at the Hilton in Salt Lake City, Nov. 6, 2012. (Spenser Heaps/The Daily Herald via AP, File)

FILE - Utah U.S. Congresswoman Mia Love speaks at the Utah Republican 2018 nominating convention, April 21, 2018, in West Valley City, Utah. (AP Photo/George Frey, File)

FILE - Republican congressional candidate Mia Love speaks during the Utah Republican Party nominating convention in Sandy, Utah, on April 26, 2014. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Republican Mia Love celebrates with her father, Jean Maxime Bourdeau, after winning the race for Utah's 4th Congressional District during election night in Salt Lake City, Nov. 4, 2014. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Congressional District candidates Rep. Jim Matheson and Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love participate in a debate, Sept. 27, 2012, in Salt Lake City. (Laura Seitz/The Deseret News via AP, File)

FILE - Republican U.S. Rep. Mia Love, center, kisses her daughter Abby while hugging her sister Cyndi Brito, after she addresses supporters during an election night party, Nov. 6, 2018, in Lehi, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Republican U.S. Rep. Mia Love greets supporters during an election night party, in Lehi, Utah, Nov. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)