Barbara “Babs” Thore, who appeared on TLCs My big fat fabulous life died along with her daughter Whitney. She was 76.
Whitney shared the news of her mother’s death on Instagram, where she revealed that Barbara died on Wednesday (December 7) while watching her favorite movie surrounded by her family. She died at 10:32 p.m., Whitney wrote, which was the time Whitney was born in 1984.
Along with a montage of photos of herself and her mom over the years, Whitney posted a lengthy tribute to Barbara, writing, “Rest In Peace, Sweet Mommy.”
“My mother is our family’s greatest gift. We could never love, adore, or appreciate another person more,” Whitney wrote. “If you’re reading this, you’ll be familiar with her magic: her southern charm, hilarious sense of humor, well-timed witticisms, beauty, and her ability to make everyone around her feel comfortable and cared for. ”
“But what you can’t possibly comprehend is the magnitude of my mother’s love — what you may have seen and felt through a TV screen is a tiny fraction that, even when multiplied by a million, doesn’t even come close to ‘real life ‘ Would come close,'” she continued. “So great, how generous and all-encompassing was my mother’s love. I am the happiest person on the planet to have been hers for almost 39 years.”
Whitney also thanked fans for “loving” her mother, telling her followers, “She was more excited about her newfound television career than we can describe! It gave her such a sense of purpose and excitement and something to look forward to every time the crew came by.”
She continued: “This last year after her second stroke has been, perhaps surprisingly, the best of our lives. We have never had so much fun and laughed as much as in the past year. The support of all of you made her feel so loved and encouraged. We are incredibly grateful that we were able to share her with you, and we hope her memory will be a source of comfort and happiness for the rest of your life, just as it will be for us.”
Barbara had cerebral amyloid angiopathy, a diagnosis described by Whitney as an “untreatable progressive condition caused by proteins in the blood vessels of the brain causing dementia, seizures, or, as in my mother’s case, bleeding in the brain (hemorrhagic stroke) can cause”.
She experienced her first stroke in 2017, according to Whitney, who said in her Instagram post that doctors had told her and her family that Barbara would inevitably experience more in the future. She suffered a second stroke in December 2021 and a third on November 13, weeks before her death.
Barbara has appeared in all 10 seasons of My big fat fabulous life which premiered on TLC in 2015. The show has featured her health struggles throughout seasons and recently chronicled her recovery from a stroke and being discharged from the hospital, per TMZ.
Barbara is survived by her husband Glenn, daughter Whitney and son Hunter.