Kitty Dukakis dead: Wife of ex-Presidential nominee who became shock therapy activist after addiction battle dies at 88

KITTY Dukakis, the wife of 1988 presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, has died aged 88.

The activist and humanitarian died on Friday night at her home in Brookline, Massachusetts, following complications with dementia, her family said.

GettyMassachusetts Governor and presidential candidate Michael Dukakis and his wife Kitty wave to supporters during a campaign stop[/caption] GettyKitty has died aged 88[/caption]

Dukakis, notably, was a proponent of electroconvulsive therapy, having used it to overcome alcoholism and depression.

She was the first lady of Massachusetts while her husband had served as the governor of the state.

Her husband was the nominee for the Democratic Party against George HW Bush in 1988, but lost in a landslide 426 to 111 Electoral College votes.

In 1978, Dukakis was appointed by Jimmy Carter to the first President’s Commission on the Holocaust which sought to build a national memorial.

She faced a long battle with pill addiction – taking amphetamines every day from 1956 until she checked herself into rehab in 1982.

Dukakis, born Katherine Dickson was a Massachusetts native and her father played with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and was a conductor of the Boston Pops.

GettyDukakis her husband in Louisville, Kentucky[/caption]

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