Michael Dukakis, the wife of the former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate, passed away at the age of 88, confirmed by Fox News Digital.
Her son, John Dukakis, said his three wives and mother died Friday night “surrounded by their families.”
“She was born on December 26, 1936 and lived a full life to share her vulnerability to make the world a better place and help others face their own,” he said in a statement. “She was loving, talented, fun and keenly sensitive to people in all life. She and our father, Michael Dukakis, share an enviable partnership for over 60 years and thank everyone who has been touched by our lives over the years and moved by their mother.”
Michael Dukakis defeats Trump, saying voters need to “push this guy out of the White House before he destroys us.”
Michael and Kitty Dukakis respond to the cheers of representatives at the end of the Democratic National Convention. (Getty Images)
The Washington Post and the New York Times both reported that John Dukakis said his mother’s death was a complication of dementia and that he died at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Kitty Dukakis was Massachusetts’ First Lady during her husband’s three non-continued terms and supported Michael Dukakis in the president’s failed presidential run against Vice President George HW Bush.
What was considered a pivotal moment in the campaign, Michael Dukakis responded frankly from CNN moderator Bernard Shaw during the first presidential debate, “If Governor, Kitty Dukakis was raped and murdered, would you support the irreparable death penalty for the murderer?” he replied with a frank response, “No, I won’t, Bernard,” and continued to repeat his opposition to the death penalty.
Kitty Dukakis later said that her husband admitted, “I really blew it away.” She also accused the question of “outrageous.”
Massachusetts Governors John Dukakis and Kitty Dukakis were on the podium in November 1988 to agree to the loss of the presidential election in Boston. (Mikki Ansin/Getty Images)
Dukakis calls Progressive a “police” push nut “refunds.”
In her 60s, supported by her husband, Kitty Dukakis became an advocate for electroconvulsive therapy to treat depression. She wrote a book that opened a book about diet pills and alcohol addiction.
She was a Jewish background, but her husband was Greek orthodox. Kitty Dukakis, a longtime advocate involved in projects on subjects including homelessness, refugees and AIDS, has been appointed to the committee that led to the creation of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., former presidential rival.
Michael and Kitty Dukakis talk to journalists while awaiting the results of the Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial primary held in Boston on September 19, 1978. (Barbara Alper/Getty Images)
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Her father was Ellis Dixon, the first violinist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and conductor of the Boston Pops. In her first book, Now You Know, she details her more complicated relationship with her mother, Jane (Goldberg) Dixon.
