Throughout her career, Wendy Williams keeps showing up for her viewers even in the midst of personal tragedies. It’s no wonder, then, that the world had no suspicion that she had lost the closest person to her this year: her mother, Shirley Williams.
During today’s episode (Dec. 7) of The Wendy Williams Show, the host held back tears while confirming the death of her mom. “My mom passed away many, many, many, many weeks ago,’ the star said. “You know how you lose track of the day and time? All I know was it was a long time ago. The five of us, my mom, dad, my siblings, the five of us — she will always be here.”
Williams beams with pride while revealing her mother passed away, “beautiful and peacefully, surrounded by love,” and that she “didn’t suffer one bit.” She then describes growing closer with her mother after leaving home to attend college. “Our relationship was like that of two teenage girls…17, if I can pick an age,” she says. “My relationship with my mother, right up until the end, was so girly and so ridiculously giggly.”
She then becomes teary-eyed reflecting on her relationship with her mom. “Gone is the best mother, the best girlfriend, that a girl could ever have,” she said. “I feel fortunate that I had her in my life all of my 56 years.”
Faithful viewers of The Wendy Williams Show will remember Ms. Shirley making occasional appearances alongside her daughter. In 2010, the mother-daughter duo sat beside each other on stage as Ms. Shirley told the story of Wendy’s birth.
“In 1964, my family was full of stress and in a lot of darkness because my mother was diagnosed with colon cancer,” Ms. Shirler revealed. “But then, a ray of sunshine came into our lives. Wendy was born in July. So what a wonderful blessing it was to us, that one was ready to be taken away in October, and one brought a ray of sunshine and hope and wonderful, bubbly personality into our lives.”
Ms. Shirley and Wendy’s father, Thomas Williams, often stopped by to visit Wendy during her behind the scenes segments.
According to Fox 13, Shirley and Thomas Williams were married for 65 years and, in addition to Wendy, shared two other children: Wanda and Thomas, Jr. Ms. Shirley was also involved in several community organizations, including the Monmouth County Council of Girl Scouts, the Central Jersey Club of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs Inc., and the Lambda Omega Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
Our condolences go out to the Williams family.