Elderly woman in white fedora, oversized sunglasses, white blazer, and black turtleneck carrying a white quilted chain-strap handbag on a Paris street.
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Gossip

“My Mom Was The Heart Of Our Family.” Kris Jenner Announced Her Mother MJ Has Died at 91

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Mary Jo “MJ” Shannon appeared across 20 seasons of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and its Hulu follow-up, “The Kardashians,” as the family’s quiet matriarch.

Kris announced the death Thursday, July 16, in a tribute on Instagram:

“Today, we said goodbye to my beautiful Mommy MJ. 😞💔 There are no words that could ever capture what she has meant to me or the heartbreak of having to say goodbye. My mom was the heart of our family. She taught me everything that truly matters… to love your family fiercely, to be kind, to show up for the people you love, and to never take a single moment together for granted.

She taught us that family is everything. She showed us how to love unconditionally and how to find joy in the little moments. She showed me how to face life’s challenges with resilience and faith.

Mom, thank you for every sacrifice you made, every piece of wisdom you shared, and every moment you loved us so completely. I will miss our daily talks, your smile, your laughter… Our hearts are broken, but we find comfort knowing that love like yours never truly leaves us. Your love will live on in our family, in our traditions, in every moment we are together, and in every life you touched.

When I look at my kids and my grandkids, I will forever see pieces of you in all of us. There is not a part of me that isn’t shaped by you. And if I have done anything right in this world, it’s because I spent my life trying to live in a way that would make you proud.

Every memory, every moment, every blessing, it was all because of you, and I will forever thank God every single day for making you my mommy. My heart is broken into a million pieces… thank you for giving me the greatest childhood and oh what a beautiful blessed life…

I love you forever Mommy. Thank you for giving us everything. ❤️

Elderly woman in white fedora, oversized sunglasses, white jacket, and black turtleneck carrying a white quilted chain-strap bag on a Paris street.
Mary Jo Shannon, mother of Kris Jenner, arriving at Kim Kardashian’s Paris apartment in May 2014, dressed in a chic black-and-white ensemble with a white fedora and quilted handbag. Photo by Marc Piasecki / GC Images via Getty Images.
Older woman in striped jacket, white hat, and black trousers carrying a black patent bag walks beside a woman in a blue lace minidress and blue heels.
Mary Jo Shannon, wearing a striped jacket and wide-brimmed hat, walks alongside a woman in a blue floral minidress on an Easter outing in 2014.

Born in Arkansas in 1934, MJ gave birth to Kris in 1955 during her marriage to Robert “Bob” Houghton. She later married businessman Harry Shannon, who became a father figure to Kris and her younger sister Karen until his death in 2003. Karen died in March 2024 at 65.

Elderly woman in a cream coat and wide-brimmed tan and pink hat seated in a wheelchair outdoors near a floral arrangement.
Mary Jo Campbell seated in a wheelchair at a family wedding in San Diego in March 2025, wearing a cream coat, pearl necklace, and a wide-brimmed pink hat. Photo by Backgrid.

MJ was grandmother to Kim, Kourtney, Khloé and Rob Kardashian and Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and great-grandmother to 13.

“If I have done anything right in this world,” Kris wrote, “it’s because I spent my life trying to live in a way that would make you proud.”

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About the author

Nadia Santiago

Nadia Santiago is a writer who lives between the clouds and the coastline, and writes about all the things your heart knows but your mouth can never quite say.