Hartke recounts family's Kennedy encounters on passing of senator

My father U.S. Senator Vance Hartke, a Democrat from Indiana, served with all three Ken-nedy brothers during their tenure in the U.S. Senate.

He worked closely with Sen. Ted Kennedy for 14 years, helping to pass Medicare, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and a host of environmental, education, and anti-poverty bills.

Martha Hartke, my mother, helped then Senator John F. Kennedy in his campaign for the Presidency in 1960 and worked alongside him in Indiana appearances.

“He was the same age as Vance and I, filled with vigor and energy, and we shared the same goals and ideals. He wanted to get the country moving again and we knew just what he meant,” remembered Martha.

She also recalled with pride that First Lady Jackie Kennedy once told her she was her favorite dinner partner, primarily, Martha believes, because she made her laugh. On a sadder note, Martha remembered offering her sympathy to Ethel Kennedy on the funeral train of Robert Kennedy that traveled from Boston to Washington.

Martha was appointed by President Kennedy as chair-woman of the “Freedom from Hunger” drive, an initiative of his New Frontier agenda.

She was also part of the Presidential campaign of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy during the Indiana primary.

“Vance was the Chairman of Robert Kennedy’s Presidential Campaign in Indiana. One memory that stands out was when we were driving around in a convertible and Bobby was sitting on the back seat.

People were grabbing at him and he asked me to hold onto his legs so he wouldn’t be pulled out of the car,” Martha recalled.

“After Vance died, Ted called me and my son, Jan, and told us how much he appreciated fighting for the same great causes over the years with Vance and, especially, how much he appreciated Vance’s support for his brothers over the years.”

My brother, Jan, recalled being invited to a dinner at Senator Ted Kennedy’s home.

“Senator Kennedy and his wife Victoria said that they had a special guest drop by, and in walked Nelson Mandela. Senator Kennedy introduced him to the guests, including me. So, Senator Kennedy was responsible for launching my long-term relationship with President Mandela around the issues of environmental education in South Africa,” said Jan Hartke, a former prosecutor who now serves as an environmentalist under former President Bill Clinton.

My son, Ryan Hoban, works as doorkeeper at the U.S. Senate meeting Senator Ted Kennedy when he returned to speak on the Senate floor after recovering from his first cancer attack.

My nephews, Jason and Vance II, recalled running into Sen. Ted Kennedy at a union function in Washington.

“When we met him, he laughed that hearty laugh of his and in his booming voice said: “More Hartkes! You’re like the Kennedys, you're everywhere!” Jason said. “Then he proceeded to make an off-the-cuff speech that awed the crowd with his legislative insights, his knowledgeable summary of the political dynamics, and his inspirational call to action.”

My brothers, Keith and Paul, just returned from an event Aug. 8 in Indiana where they accepted, on behalf of our father, the 2009 John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Posthumous Award from the JFK Club of Vanderburgh County.

At that event, Keith said: “For 50 years, the Kennedy family has stood for the nobility of public service, the dedication to excellence, and the dream of equality. On behalf of the Hartke family, we are proud to be a part of that great tradition.”

Keith recalled, “The last time I saw Sen. Ted Kennedy was at a reception for a friend. I told Sen. Kennedy that my father had regarded him as the greatest legislator of modern times and he returned the compliment by saying my father was one of the giants of the U.S. Senate. It was the nicest thing he could have said to me.”

As for me, “the most heart-warming comment during my campaign for Congress was when Senator Kerry, a great friend of the Kennedy and Hartke families, came to one of my events and said that if President Kennedy were writing his book to-day, he would want to include my father’s profile in courage for his opposition to the Vietnam War.”

My mom has been in tears, like the country, about the passing of this remarkable family.

“It really was Camelot in so many ways and now the youngest brother will be laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery, the pantheon for our nation’s heroes,” she said.

My father, Vance Hartke, rests on the adjacent hill, next to the Kennedys.

Anita Hartke, a mother of three, is a real estate agent from Amissville and president of the Culpeper County Democratic Committee. Last year, she ran against Congressman Eric Can-tor for Virginia’s Seventh District seat in the U.S. House of Repre-sentatives. Hartke earned 138,123 votes to Cantor’s 233,531 and plans to run again next year.