Kitty Dukakis, Wife of 1988 Democrat Presidential Nominee, Dies at 88

Kitty Dukakis, the wife of 1988 Democrat presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, died on Friday at the age of 88, according to her family.

Her son, John Dukakis, confirmed his mother’s passing, attributing it to complications stemming from dementia.

She served as the first lady of Massachusetts when her husband was governor from 1975 to 1979. In 1988, Michael Dukakis became the Democrat nominee for president.

“Kitty Dukakis used her role as First Lady of the Commonwealth to champion refugees and the homeless, promote greater awareness of the Holocaust, and advocate for placing more women in leadership roles within state government,” the Massachusetts Democratic Party said in a statement.

“Yet, it was her courage in publicly sharing her struggles with depression and substance use disorder that truly defined her strength,” it continued.

“Her honesty and bravery helped break down stigma, inspiring countless others to seek support and begin their own journeys of recovery,” the Democrat Party of Massachusetts added.

According to the Washington Post:

As first lady of Massachusetts, Mrs. Dukakis described herself as driven by “compassion and humanitarian concern.” She said she was “fiercely proud” of her Jewish background — her husband was Greek Orthodox — and played a role in the creation of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

Her intense personality, chain smoking and preference for first-class travel and designer clothes both complemented and provided a contrast to her husband’s straight-arrow persona. Calm, button-down and abstemious, he nursed a frugality that extended to flying coach and mowing his own lawn as governor. (Massachusetts does not have an official residence for its governor.)

“Kitty had courage. She used her personal pain as a powerful force to help others. Her legacy will live on in the policies she helped shape and the people she inspired to speak their own truths,” Massachusetts Attorney General Joy Campbell said in reaction to Dukakis’s passing.

“My thoughts, prayers and love are with Michael and the entire Dukakis family,” she added.