Kris Jenner shared the death of her mom, Mary Jo “MJ” Shannon, on Thursday. The Kardashian matriarch was 91. No cause of death has been revealed.
“Today, we said goodbye to my beautiful Mommy MJ,” Jenner wrote in an Instagram post Thursday. “There are no words that could ever capture what she has meant to me or the heartbreak of having to say goodbye. My mom was the heart of our family. She taught me everything that truly matters … to love your family fiercely, to be kind, to show up for the people you love, and to never take a single moment together for granted.”
“She taught us that family is everything. She showed us how to love unconditionally and how to find joy in the little moments,” she continued. “She showed me how to face life’s challenges with resilience and faith. Mom, thank you for every sacrifice you made, every piece of wisdom you shared, and every moment you loved us so completely. I will miss our daily talks, your smile, your laughter… Our hearts are broken, but we find comfort knowing that love like yours never truly leaves us. Your love will live on in our family, in our traditions, in every moment we are together, and in every life you touched.”
“When I look at my kids and my grandkids, I will forever see pieces of you in all of us. There is not a part of me that isn’t shaped by you,” the post concluded. “And if I have done anything right in this world, it’s because I spent my life trying to live in a way that would make you proud. Every memory, every moment, every blessing, it was all because of you, and I will forever thank God every single day for making you my mommy. My heart is broken into a million pieces… thank you for giving me the greatest childhood and oh what a beautiful blessed life… I love you forever Mommy. Thank you for giving us everything.”
Shannon became a prominent fixture on E!’s “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and Hulu’s “The Kardashians” often appearing in scenes with Jenner and the rest of the family. Jenner’s parents, engineer Robert Houghton and Shannon, divorced when she was 7. A few years later, she married businessman Harry Shannon, and remained together for four decades until he was killed in a car crash in 2003.
The news of Shannon’s passing follows the death of the family’s longtime bodyguard Mason Haynes. The Kardashians shared Wednesday that he died earlier this month in a car crash at the age of 52. Haynes’ death was confirmed through a GoFundMe fundraiser meant to support his family. The fundraiser cites July 4 as the date of his death, just two days before what would have been his 53rd birthday.
