Kitty Dukakis, wife of former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, has died at 88.
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Dukakis passed away at her home in Brookline, Massachusetts, on March 21 due to complications from dementia, per The Boston Globe.
“She was loving, feisty, and fun, and had a keen sensitivity to people from all walks of life,” her family shared. “She and our dad, Michael Dukakis, shared an enviable partnership for over 60 years and loved each other deeply.”
Kitty Dukakis has passed away. pic.twitter.com/D0IMZSKb8m
— Jess (@Punished_Jess) March 22, 2025
During her husband’s 1988 presidential campaign, Dukakis earned praise for her relentless dedication as a political campaigner, tirelessly advocating on his behalf. She was widely regarded as a pivotal influence in his decision to pursue the presidency, according to The Associated Press.
In 1987, Dukakis disclosed that she had successfully overcome a 26-year addiction to amphetamines, achieving sobriety five years earlier following treatment. Her struggle began at the age of 19 when she started using diet pills. With her husband’s dedication to anti-drug initiatives, Dukakis emerged as a prominent advocate for educating young people about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.
A few months after Michael Dukakis lost the presidential election to George H.W. Bush, Kitty Dukakis began a 60-day treatment program for alcoholism. However, several months later, she experienced a relapse and was hospitalized after consuming rubbing alcohol.
Kitty Dukakis was Famously Open About Her Struggles with Sobriety
In her 1990 autobiography, Now You Know, she opened up about her battles with addiction and low self-esteem. In her 2006 book, Shock, she shared how starting electroconvulsive therapy in 2001 helped ease years of depression and gave her a fresh outlook on life.
Dukakis met her future husband during their high school years in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. He was reserved and frugal, while she was vibrant and sophisticated. He followed the Greek Orthodox faith, while she came from a Jewish background.
In 1963, Kitty Dukakis, a divorced mother of a 3-year-old son, married Michael Dukakis. Together, they went on to have two daughters, Andrea and Kara.
Dukakis, the daughter of the late Harry Ellis Dickson, former associate conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, held degrees in modern dance and broadcasting.
Following the 1989 presidential election, Bush appointed her to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. Earlier in her career, she served on the President’s Commission on the Holocaust in 1979. She was also a member of the board of directors for the Refugee Policy Group. Additionally, she contributed to humanitarian efforts as part of the Task Force on Cambodian Children.
By the late 1990s, Dukakis and her husband split their time between Massachusetts and California. In California, she worked as a social worker, while she spent part of the year teaching as a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.