I really have no more information than I posted on this thread, so I don't know how they came to be family friends , how closely they knew each other, or if the families are still in contact.
All I know is that Judge Alito's mother said that Judge Alito's wife's family was friends with the Kopechne family and the Judge's wife knew Mary Jo.
I tried Googling around to find more, but there is a real suprising lack of information on Mary Jo and her family, outside of that one particular night.
All I know is that Judge Alito's mother said that Judge Alito's wife's family was friends with the Kopechne family and the Judge's wife knew Mary Jo. You posted the same above, with the only difference being whether Martha-Ann Bomgardner "knew" Mary Jo Kopechne vs. "knew fairly well."
- My old college roommate's mother and Judge Alito's mother go to the same church in Roseland, New Jersey
- Judge Alito's mother asserted (to my old college roommate's mother) that the Kopechne family was friends with the Bomgardner family
- Judge Alito's mother asserted (to my old college roommate's mother) that Martha-Ann Bomgardner knew Mary Jo Kopechne fairly well
Implied in the above is that the Bomgardner/Kopechne family friendship existed during a time that Mary Jo Kopechne was alive, and that Mary Jo Kopechne and Martha-Ann Bomgardner had at least one face-to-face encounter.