Oldest Grandson of FDR Passes Away
The oldest grandson of Hyde Park native, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, passed away this week.
The FDR Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park says Curtis Roosevelt died this week at 86-years-old. The library wrote on its Facebook page that Roosevelt was “a dear friend to the library, he was a noted author and educator.”
Curtis’s mother, Anna Roosevelt Halstead, moved Curtis and the rest of his family from New York to the White House following Anna’s divorce from Curtis’s father.
Curtis and his sister Anna became media sensations during the 1930s. Their adventures as “first grandchildren” living in the White House during the Great Depression where a big hit throughout the United States. The Washington Post says the siblings where “The Shirley Temples of Washington news coverage.”
Curtis spent 12 years of his life living with his President Grandfather at the White House, or as a frequent visitor. The FDR Presidential Library and Museum says he felt the deepest sense of belonging at the White House or at the family’s home in Hyde Park.
In 2008, Roosevelt appeared at the library and museum for a book signing. His book, Too Close To The Sun: Growing Up In The Shadow Of My Grandparents, Franklin and Eleanor, spoke about his time living in the White House and his attempts to measure up to his famous grandparents.
Following a long career in the United Nations Secretariat, Roosevelt retired to France with his wife, Marina. He passed away in France on Sept. 26 from an apparent heart attack, the Washington Post reports.