Jacklyn ‘Jackie’ Bezos, mother of Amazon founder Jeff, has died aged 78, after a five year battle with progressive neurological disorder Lewy body Dementia.
The billionaire shared a heartfelt tribute on Instagram on Thursday after the news was confirmed in a statement from the Bezos Family Foundation. Jacklyn died at her home in Miami, the statement said. Two years ago, Bezos moved to Florida to be closer to her.
In his tribute, Bezos said his mom was surrounded by family in her final moments.
“After a long fight with Lewy body Dementia, she passed away today,” Bezos wrote, nothing she was “surrounded by so many of us who loved her”, including “her kids, grandkids, and my dad.”
He added: “I know she felt our love in those final moments. We were all so lucky to be in her life. I hold her safe in my heart forever.”
Lauren Sanchez Bezos shared her husband’s post with a broken heart emoji.
Bezos referenced his mother’s battle after being diagnosed with Lewy body Dementia in 2020. Also known as LBD, it is the most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. It leads to a gradual decline in mental abilities as well as visual hallucinations, cognitive changes, dizziness and tremors.
The Bezos Family Foundation statement said Jacklyn battled LBD “with the same dignity and courage that shaped every aspect of her life. Mike, her husband and partner for more than a half century remained by her side at every step of this journey.”
Jacklyn gave birth to Jeff in 1964, when she was a teenager in high school in Albuquerque. She married Ted Jorgensen, who she divorced in 1965.
As a single mother, she worked in a bank during the day followed by night school classes at a secretarial school. She picked her classes based on which professors would let her bring Jeff with her.
“I would show up with an infant and two duffel bags,” Jacklyn said in a commencement speech at Cambridge College in 2019. “One full of my text books and the other full of diapers cloth diapers, bottles… and the second duffel bag would have items that might keep Jeff interested for a few minutes.”
While working at the bank, she met lifelong partner Miguel (Mike) Bezos, who she married in 1968. Her new husband adopted 4-year-old Jeff, who took on his surname, later saying he considered him his “natural father”.
“Her adulthood started a little bit early when she became my mom at the tender age of 17,” Bezos wrote. “That couldn’t have been easy, but she made it all work. She pounced on the job of loving me with ferocity, brought my amazing dad onto the team a few years later, and then added my sister and brother to her list of people to love, guard, and nourish.”
He added, “For the rest of her life, that list of people to love never stopped growing. She always gave so much more than she ever asked for.”
Jacklyn and Mike Bezos invested $245,573 in Amazon in 1995, which Bloomberg calculated could have made them $30 billion.
In 2000, Jacklyn and Mike launched the Bezos Family Foundation, where she focussed on global early learning initiative Vroom and the Bezos Scholars Program, which assisted students in the U.S. and Africa.
In its statement, the foundation ran a tribute to Jacklyn with a quote from her that read “together, we can change the trajectory of an entire generation. We are not just building brains-we are building the future. Each of us has a role to play, and it will take all of us to really make a difference.”
The foundation’s statement ended, “Although Jackie may be gone from our sight, her love remains with us always—a bright shining light that will never fade. She will be missed beyond words.”
She is survived by Mike, children Jeff and wife Lauren, Christina and husband Steve, Mark and wife Lisa, eleven grandchildren, and one great grandchild.
The post Jeff Bezos Reveals Mom’s Final Moments in Heartbreaking Tribute appeared first on The Daily Beast.
