Kennedy confidante, Morrissey, dies

BOSTON, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Retired Judge Francis X. Morrissey, a longtime confidante of John F. Kennedy, has died in Boston at age 97.

"Judge Morrissey led a rich and generous life and leaves a great legacy of service to others," Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., said in a statement, the Boston Globe said. "The Kennedy family was proud and fortunate to call him a friend."

Ted Kennedy once said Morrissey "gave both Jack and myself our first baptism in the politics of the state," the newspaper said.

Morrissey was as Boston Municipal Court judge and close friends with the two Kennedy sons as well as their father, former ambassador to Britain Joseph Kennedy.