Chuck Drummond's passing has left Ree Drummond and her family in despair.
The Pioneer Woman celebrity said on her blog that Chuck, better known as Pa-Pa, passed away on November 4 at the age of 79 "peacefully in his sleep." Ree's daughters Paige, 23, and Alex, 25, paid tribute to their grandfather on Monday with Instagram photos, announcing that he had been laid to rest this week.
Alex captioned her Instagram image, "Spent the past week remembering, celebrating, and saying goodbye to PaPa." What a blessing he was, and I'm so grateful that I got to spend 25 years making wonderful memories with my grandpa.
Alex uploaded a video of her grandfather's burial procession along with heartwarming old pictures of herself and her grandfather. On the family's ranch in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, the sombre footage shows a hearse trailing a group of cowboys on horseback.
In her Instagram post on the area he was so passionate about, Paige also included a family memory. He told me, "If you're ever out working on the ranch on a hot summer day, and you feel a cool breeze going by, just know that it's me... and then get back to work," she recalled in the caption. "About a month ago, I was sitting with him in his kitchen.
Ladd, Ree's husband, and Tim, their brother, are co-owners of Drummond Land and Cattle Co., which their father, Chuck, left to them. The Drummonds were listed as one of the top 20 land-owning families in the U.S., with a combined 400,000 acres, according to records at the time, in a 2017 cover story by PEOPLE.
He had been deteriorating for the previous two months, and we were aware that his time was running out, Ree penned in a moving tribute on her Pioneer Woman blog. "He was now prepared to go after feeling rather wretched for the previous two to three months."
The famous chef said her father-in-law had "such a full life," and she said, "He was happiest when he was working, so all the grandkids knew you shouldn't ever, ever, ever say you're bored around Pa-Pa...because he'd give you enough work to cure you of boredom forever!"
Chuck had a gravelly voice and might come off as stern, but the truth was that he had a kind and giving heart, and his family meant the world to him.
Over the years, Chuck made several appearances on The Pioneer Woman programmes. Ree revealed that her father-in-law helped her career in numerous ways in addition to his television commercials.
"My father-in-law treated me very graciously. Ladd and I have been married for 26 years, and we have never experienced any dispute "said Ree. He distributed my cookbooks to everyone he met, he viewed my QVC appearances, and when we first opened The Mercantile, he engaged with customers for a very long time.
Tim, Ree's brother-in-law, and Ree's husband have both experienced loss in the past. When Ladd was 18 years old, their older brother Todd perished in a traffic accident, and their mother Nan passed away in 2018 after a long battle with cancer.
Ree stated of Nan and Chuck, "I don't know what happens after we die, but I like to assume their souls are somehow reunited and joyful."
Ree concluded the message by expressing gratitude for his legacy. "Pa-Pa, you are very adored by us. Thank you for leading such a wonderful life and allowing us to share it with you "She composed.
