The family of Suzanne Somers is grappling with their loss. Just a day after her death at age 76, her son Bruce Somers, Jr. shared a heartstring-tugging tribute to the Three’s Company actress.
“She soared higher than most can dream. She protected those who didn’t have a voice. She asked the questions most didn’t know to ask,” Bruce wrote. “She shared her challenges and brought light to solutions. To so many, she was a brave warrior who articulated their fears. She wasn’t fearless, but she faced them so we could learn.”
Bruce highlighted Somers’ humanity and how for him, “she was just mom.” His tribute came in a caption for a photo of Somers giving Bruce a kiss on the cheek as he smiled into the camera.
“I had the privilege as the only person who could call her that. Growing up, it was us against the world,” he wrote. “And then she took the world by storm. It’s always too soon, no matter how prepared we may be. But she will live through me as she taught me to be kind, to be present, to love and be loved, to care, to express, and to always speak from the heart… because THAT is the voice of God.”
He also wished his mother a happy birthday, as the actress would have turned 77 on Monday, Oct. 16. She was surrounded by family over the weekend as they celebrated her birthday. “Today, Heaven is lucky,” he ended the post.
On Monday, her husband, Alan Hamel, opened up with People about her final days. “I was staying up most of the night just talking to her,” he told the outlet. “Then I kissed her, and she responded to that, and it was a physical response with her lips. I knew she was still with us, and I knew that she could probably hear what I was saying.”
“Normally, when people are not responding, stop eating and stop taking their meds, you call 911 and they take you to the hospital,” Hamel continued. “I knew that she did not want to be in a hospital setting. That was the difference. So it was very peaceful, and that’s the way it all went.”
Somers’ publicist R. Couri Hay confirmed the actress’ death Sunday in a statement to Rolling Stone, with Somers’ death coming just one day before her 77th birthday. Earlier in the year, Somers revealed that she was diagnosed with a recurrence of breast cancer after previously battling the disease in 2000.
“Suzanne Somers passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours of October 15th. She survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years,” Hay said in a statement.
Somers was best-known for portraying the ditzy Chrissy Snow on the Seventies sitcom Three’s Company, about two women living with a man who is pretending to be gay. The series was a hit following its premiere in 1977 and made the actress an instant sex symbol.
In July, Somers — who also authored dozens of health and wellness books (some of which were met with skepticism) — revealed that, after battling breast cancer 23 years earlier, the disease had recurred.
“As you know, I had breast cancer two decades ago, and every now and then it pops up again, and I continue to bat it down,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “I have used the best alternative and conventional treatments to combat it. This is not new territory for me. I know how to put on my battle gear and I’m a fighter.”