Born:

  • 9 November 1915
  • Westminster MD

Died:

  • 18 January 2011 (Aged 95)
  • Bethesda, Maryland
  • Ill health from Alzheimers

Education:

  • Yale University and then Yale Law School, receiving a Bachelor of Laws degree

Spouse:

  • Eunice Kennedy (m. 1953–her death in 2009)

Children:

  • Robert Sargent “Bobby” Shriver III
  • Maria Owings Shriver
  • Timothy Perry Shriver
  • Mark Kennedy Shriver
  • Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver

Parents:

  • Robert & Hilda Shriver

Life, work, and accomplishments:

  • Founding director and ideator of the Peace Corps, an independent organization of the US government that works “to promote world peace and friendship through community-based development and intercultural understanding,” sending volunteers to participating countries to live within and work with their communities to support impactful goals
  • President of the Chicago Board of Education in the ’50s
  • President of the Catholic Interracial Council also during this time, which worked to desegregate schools
  • President of the Special Olympics, and later serving as Chair of the board
  • U.S. ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970
  • Started VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), a domestic analog of the Peace Corps that operates in cities
  • First director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, which he built the foundation for, fighting the War on Poverty under Johnson
  • Headed the following projects: Community Action, Head Start, Indian and Migrant Opportunities, Neighborhood Health Services, Legal Services for the Poor, Job Corps, Neighborhood Youth Corps, and Foster Grandparents, among others
  • WW2 veteran
  • Active promoter and activist for nuclear disarmament, organizing efforts to promote a “No First Strike” policy and involve the Catholic Church in nuclear affairs on the side of peace
  • He was politically involved, helping with JFK’s presidential campaign and was later a candidate for Vice President

“Serve, serve, serve. Because in the end, it will be the servants who save us all.” — R. Sargent Shriver

Awards and honors:

  • Veteran of the Year, 1956
  • James J. Hooey Award, Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice Council of New York, 1958
  • Lay Churchman of the Year, 1963
  • National Father of the Year, 1964
  • Notre Dame Patriotism Award, 1965
  • National Brotherhood Award, 1966
  • Hannah G. Solomon Award, National Council of Jewish Women, 1972
  • the Order of the Smile, 1989
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt Freedom From Want Award, 1993
  • Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor, 1994
  • the “Distinguished American Award” from the John F. Kennedy Library and Foundation for his inspiring work with the Peace Corps; Shriver Head Start Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 2001
  • Also has been awarded “more than 24 honorary degrees from universities around the world,” according to the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute

“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.” — R. Sargent Shriver

For further reading, see the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute at sargentshriver.org,

or read the excellent biography Sarge: the Life and Times of Sargent Shriver