"Thank you, Teddy (Edward Kennedy), for fighting for my civil rights." Farewell to all Kennedy brothers, all with courage!

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Remember Ted Kennedy, liberal icon, as he did Bobby: "My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it." Ted Kennedy, a faithful Catholic & Lion of the Senate, politician fighting legislative battles for 47 years on behalf of the less fortunate, is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C., next to his two brothers.

Ted Kennedy called a man of quiet faith

Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy often said it was his mother's Catholic faith that guided his family's political agenda. He used Scripture in his push to end poverty and discrimination. He didn't wear his faith on his sleeve, but those close to him say Catholicism was much more than an ethnic and cultural identity. "My favorite parts of the Bible were always Matthew 25 through 35: I was hungry and you gave me to eat, and thirsty and you gave me to drink," Kennedy said at Esperanza's Hispanic Prayer breakfast in 2007. But his support for abortion rights flew in the face of the Catholic credo. "I think he would wish that he could have found a middle ground, a common ground with our church institution," Creedon said, "When it came to the prayers of the faithful, [that] is the time normally people make petitions. ... He never made a petition, but he always had two or three prayers of thanksgiving, gratitude."

Politics Today: Will the Dream Live On?

25,000 lined up to pay their respects at the JFK Library in Boston yesterday, August 27, 2009. On the 28th, Kennedy laid in repose for a second day at the library before an invitation-only "Celebration of Life Memorial Service" at 7pm. Speakers included: Vice President Joe Biden, his niece Caroline Kennedy, his nephew former U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, D-Mass.; Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass.; Boston Mayor Tom Menino; Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; John Kerry, D-Mass.; and John McCain, R-Ariz.

On August 29, Kennedy was taken to the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, also known as the Mission Church, in Boston for a funeral Mass. President Obama delivered the eulogy; former Presidents Clinton, Carter and George W. Bush also attended. Kennedy's sons Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., and Edward Kennedy Jr. delivered remarks. Following the funeral on Saturday, Kennedy was flown to Washington, D.C. and buried next to his brothers John and Robert in Arlington National Cemetery.

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009)

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. In office from November 1962 until his death, Kennedy served nine terms in the Senate. At the time of his death, he was the second most senior member of the Senate, and the third-longest-serving senator in U.S. history. He was best known as one of the most outspoken and effective Senate proponents of liberal causes and bills. For many years the most prominent living member of the Kennedy family, he was the son of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., the youngest brother of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, both victims of assassinations, and the father of Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy. "Camelot" is used to describe JFK's brief presidency, and Senator Edward Kennedy was honored by the Queen as Knight of the British Empire.

Kennedy entered the Senate in a 1962 special election to fill the seat once held by his brother John. He was elected to a full six-year term in 1964 and was reelected seven more times. Known for his oratorical skills, Kennedy's 1968 eulogy for his brother Robert and his 1980 Democratic National Convention rallying cry for American liberalism were among his best-known speeches. He became known as "The Lion of the Senate" through his long tenure and influence. More than 300 bills that Kennedy and his staff wrote were enacted into law. He was known for working with Republicans and finding compromises among senators with disparate views. Kennedy played a major role in passing many laws, including laws addressing immigration, cancer research, health insurance, apartheid, disability discrimination, AIDS care, civil rights, mental health benefits, children's health insurance, education and volunteering. In the 2000s, he led several unsuccessful immigration reform efforts. At the time of his death, he was continuing to work on universal health care legislation, which is often described as his "life's work."

By the time of his death on Aug. 25 in Hyannis Port at the age of 77, he had 46 working years in Congress, time enough to leave his imprint on everything from the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009, a law that expands support for national community-service programs. Over the years, Kennedy was a force behind the Freedom of Information Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. He helped Soviet dissidents and fought apartheid. Above all, he conducted a four-decade crusade for universal health coverage, a poignant one toward the end as the country watched a struggle with a brain tumor. But along the way, he vastly expanded the network of neighborhood clinics, virtually invented the COBRA system for portable insurance and helped create the laws that provide Medicare prescriptions and family leave.

And for most of that time, he went forward against great odds, the voice of progressivism in a conservative age. When people were getting tired of hearing about racism or the poor or the decay of American cities, he kept talking. When liberalism was flickering, there was Kennedy, holding the torch, insisting that "we can light those beacon fires again." In the last year of his life, with the Inauguration of Barack Obama, he had the satisfaction of seeing a big part of that dream fulfilled. In early 2008, when Obama had just begun to capture the public imagination, Kennedy bucked the party establishment. Just before Super Tuesday, the venerable Senator from Massachusetts enthusiastically endorsed the young Senator from Illinois, helping propel Obama to the Democratic nomination and ultimately the White House.

"I hope for an America where we can all contend freely and vigorously, but where we will treasure and guard those standards of civility which alone make this nation safe for both democracy and diversity."
- From Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s speech "Faith, Truth and Tolerance in America," given at Liberty Baptist College in Lynchburg, Va., on Oct. 3, 1983

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"Thank you, Teddy, for fighting for my civil rights."
Farewell, Kennedy brothers! Farewell, you are all the best, and most courageous! We have to bid farewell though we still need you with us to fight for a better world without war, without poverty, without discrimination; for a healthy earth with less pollution, less destruction. You will "be remembered as good and decent men, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it."

Photos courtesy of Bettmann / CORBIS, AP, AP Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP Photo / Stephan Savoia, Bill Pierce / TIME, Lynne Sladky / AP, Brian Snyder / AP / Reuters, Mike Segar / Reuters, Somodevilla / Getty, Stan Honda / AFP / Getty, Jason Reed / Reuters, Doug Mills / AP, Getty Images, Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy, jfklibrary.org, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, and John F. Kennedy Library Foundation

Original Source: Kennedy's Sons Remember a Passionate Father and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy laid to rest near brothers

Related Articles: CNN, CBS News, Time, Wikipedia

Photo Galleries: Mourning Ted Kennedy and Ted Kennedy: In His Own Words