Angela Fitzgibbon was a nun with the Daughters of Charity in Dallas, Texas, at the time of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. She was assigned to St. Paul Hospital and picked a spot with some of her spiritual sisters along the parade route — and brought her camera.
“She would describe to us how the car was moving rather slowly, and President Kennedy looked right at her and her two friends and said, ‘Hello, sisters,’ ” wrote Fitzgibbon’s nephew, Tim Fitzgibbon of West Des Moines. “She sent this picture to my parents (in Burlington, Ia.) shortly after the assassination, and it’s been a family heirloom ever since.”
Fitzgibbon, 52, and his eight siblings have used their aunt’s photo for classroom show-and-tell. But according to the family, this snapshot of a smiling Kennedy in motion — taken only 10 minutes before he was gunned down — remained unpublished until this month.
“It’s unique in that all four of the passengers are looking in the direction of the camera,” Fitzgibbon said. “Note the reflection on the side of the limousine of the police motorcycle and those in the parade route.”
First lady Jacqueline Kennedy sits next to the president in the photo, with Texas Gov. John Connally and his wife, Nellie, directly in front of them.
Angela Fitzgibbon died in 1997.
Tags: Daughters of Charity, JFK, Kennedy
