The Roloff family, who rose to prominence on the reality show Small People, Big World, has lost several loved ones.
Regardless, the tragedy drew the family closer together.
Celebrity Matt Roloff paid poignant tribute to his father, Ronald James Roloff, who died earlier this year at 84.
Matt, 60, sent a touching tribute to his late father on Instagram.
“A difficult week for the Roloffs… This evening, my father… affectionately known as ‘papa’ to his ten grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren, went home to be with his Lord and Savior, “In an emotional tribute, he stated.
“Ron was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and many people’s inspiration.”
“Everyone who met him knew he cared about people! His love for Jesus was obvious throughout his life, especially in his latter days.”
Matt has written about his father’s death from chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Matt also experienced the death of a brother.
Matt had to bid farewell to his sibling far too soon after his father’s death.
Josh Roloff died in 1999 at the age of 34.
He was diagnosed with severe heart and lung problems as a toddler.
Even decades after his death, his legacy lives on through his family.
They even named their book Little Family, Big Values after Josh, saying, “A wonderful son, brother, uncle, and friend who was with us for much too little time in this life. We all miss you and think about you every day, and we hope to meet you again in the presence of our Jesus one day.”
Amy’s mother passed away.
Matt’s ex-wife, Amy, sadly lost her mother, Patricia Knight, while celebrating her engagement to Chris Marek, her second husband.
“The last two weeks have been an emotional roller coaster,” she said in 2019. “Both joyful and depressing. Chris proposed to me, and I was overjoyed.”
“Very sad because a few days later, my father informed me that my mother was in the hospital, and a day later, my sister informed me that my mother had died. On the 24th, she passed away. My heart was broken, I cried, and sorrow overtook me. I had no notion what emotions to expect.”
Unless, of course, it was before 2012. Isabel’s brother, Tomás Garrenton, will not have met Jacob.
Tomás was sadly killed in a train accident.
Isabel, Jacob’s wife, has vowed her child will know everything about his uncle.
“He’ll know everything about you,” she said a year ago. “You used to make me giggle whenever I wept. So, before you died, you composed some beautiful music. My son, Uncle Tomás, will know everything about you.”
Isabel had also recently lost her mother.
Toni Garreton, Isabel’s mother, died two years after her brother died.
“Grief is an interesting beast,” she wrote on social media at the time. “The pain can be so intense that you have to slam on your brakes while driving down a road in your hometown that you’ve driven to many times with your mother.
“At the time, I think I could smell her scent. Please have a look at her laugh. All of this shows that I cared about her. I was acquainted with her. All of her memories returned to me because they were mine to keep. We were impenetrable. And this route I went with her is one I will return to, missing her each time.”