"My father-in-law was so kind to me. In the twenty-six years Ladd and I have been married, we've never had a moment of conflict."
Ree Drummond, aka "The Pioneer Woman," wrote a heartfelt eulogy to announce the death of her father-in-law. She revealed on November 6 that Charles "Chuck" Drummond, her father-in-law, had passed away at the age of 79. Ladd, her husband's father, had been deteriorating in health for the past two months. Drummond said Chuck passed away quietly in his sleep on Friday morning at his home in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Ree announced the news on her Pioneer Woman blog on Sunday. She also wrote a moving obituary for Pa-Pa, the father of her husband Ladd. "He had been declining over the past two months and we knew his time was limited," she wrote. "After feeling pretty miserable for the past two or three months, he was finally ready to go." The celebrity chef said her father-in-law lived "such a full life."
According to PEOPLE, the lovingly known as "Pa-Pa," Drummond's father-in-law had been experiencing "pretty miserable" symptoms for the previous two to three months and was "finally ready to go," according to Drummond. “I’m sad to share that Chuck—Ladd’s dad, my children’s grandpa, and my one-of-a-kind father-in-law—passed away Friday morning,” Drummond wrote on her personal blog. “I waited a couple of days to share here because we needed to communicate with extended family, take a few breaths, and shed some tears...but since you all have seen photos and read stories about Chuck since the beginning of my blog, I knew I wanted to share with you,” she wrote. He was a rancher by trade and taught his three sons everything he knew. He also imparted to his six grandkids a working ethic in the way that only an experienced person could.
She continued: "Chuck had a gravelly voice and could come across as gruff, but the truth about Chuck is that his heart was open and generous, and his family meant everything to him." Over the years, Chuck made several appearances on The Pioneer Woman programs. Ree revealed that her father-in-law helped her career in numerous ways in addition to his television commercials. "My father-in-law was so kind to me. In the twenty-six years Ladd and I have been married, we've never had a moment of conflict," Ree wrote. "He gave out my cookbooks to everyone he encountered, he watched my segments on QVC, and when we opened The Mercantile, he mingled and greeted visitors for hours and hours."
Tim, Ree's brother-in-law, and Ree's husband have both experienced losses in the past. When Ladd was 18 years old, their older brother Todd died in a traffic accident, and their mother Nan passed away in 2018 after a long battle with illness. "I don't know what happens after we die, but I like to think their souls are somehow reunited and celebrating," Ree wrote of Nan and Chuck. Closing out the post, Ree gave thanks for the legacy he left behind. "We love you so much, Pa-Pa. Thank you for living such a full life, and for letting us all be a part of it," she wrote.
References:
https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ree-drummond-life/a41875734/papa-chuck-drummond-passes/
https://www.themercantile.com/
https://people.com/food/ree-drummond-mourns-death-of-father-in-law-we-will-all-miss-pa-pa/
Cover Image Source: Instagram / Ree Drummond
