Jackie Kennedy Onassis died at the age of 64 from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Just days before Jackie's death, she had been scheduled to receive cancer treatments from the Weill Cornell Medical Center (previously known as the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center), according to the Los Angeles Times, However, after doctors told her that her cancer could not be cured, Jackie decided to live out her remaining days in her home rather than the hospital. She was with her two adult children, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg and John F. Kennedy, Jr, as well as her longtime boyfriend, Maurice Tempelsman, at the time of her death.

Jackie's son, John Jr., expressed loving sentiments about his late mother at her funeral, admiring her "love of words, the bonds of home and family, and her spirit of adventure" (via White House).

Decades after Jackie's death, famed Spanish fashion designer Manolo Blahnik weighed in on the late Kennedy, providing perhaps the best explanation of the public's admiration of the former first lady. As he told People magazine, "Mrs. Kennedy was that magic that you cannot explain. She typified America — just shining, full of optimism and intelligence."