On August 2, 2019, the Kennedy family released a statement that said they were “shattered” by Saoirse’s passing.
“Her life was filled with hope, promise, and love,” the statement read. “She cared deeply about friends and family, especially her mother Courtney, her father Paul, her stepmother Stephanie, and her grandmother Ethel, who said, ‘The world is a little less beautiful today.'”
“She lit up our lives with her love, her peals of laughter and her generous spirit,” the statement continued. “Saoirse was passionately moved by the causes of human rights and women’s empowerment and found great joy in volunteer work, working alongside indigenous communities to build schools in Mexico. We will love her and miss her forever.”
Her cousin Michaela Kennedy Cuomo also shared an emotional post on social media.
“Yesterday the world lost a light that enchanted everyone and everything around her,” she said. “Let us honor her life by carrying forth her loving compassion, merriment and her passionate fight for women’s empowerment. The world will be a better place for as long as we can embody Saoirse’s soul. Her legacy lives on through love.”