Socialites, let’s take a moment to send prayers and our deepest condolences to Oprah Winfrey as she’s mourning the death of her dad, Vernon Winfrey.
Vernon’s longtime employees confirmed that he died Friday night in East Nashville, TN. A local city councilman first broke the news. He sadly passed away after battling cancer.
Oprah had been in town last weekend to celebrate her father. She surprised him by organizing a Vernon Winfrey appreciation day on July 4 where gathered the community thanked Vernon for his service as a former city councilman and longtime local businessman. Oprah explained at the time, “My father is ill, so we wanted to be able to have all of his friends come and celebrate him while he’s able to receive the joy. So that’s what we’re doing.” Her father, who was a barber for 50 years, was seen at the end of the video sitting comfortably in his barber chair, surrounded by his loved ones.
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Oprah confirmed the news of his passing this Sunday in an Instagram post. She said over a video of him singing, “Vernon Winfrey 1933-2022
“Less than a week ago we honored my father in his own backyard. My friend and gospel singer Wintley Phipps saluted him with song. He FELT the love and reveled in it until he could no longer speak. Yesterday with family surrounding his bedside I had the sacred honor of witnessing the man responsible for my life, take his last breath. We could feel Peace enter the room at his passing. That Peace still abides. All is well. Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts 🙏🏾”
Back in June 2021, Oprah spoke with PEOPLE about her father ahead of the OWN special titled Honoring Our Kings, Celebrating Black Fatherhood. She said at the time, “I had a father who took responsibility for me, even though he knew I could have been somebody else’s child,” she said of Vernon. She went on to say, “My mother and father never married,” she added. “They had sex one time. He gets a letter after I’m born saying, ‘Send money. You have a daughter.’ And the reason he did, he said, is because it could have been him. And the responsibility that he took for me, not just a responsibility but care and love and direction and support as a young teenage girl, is the thing that made the difference in me being who I am now or somebody you would have never, ever heard of.”
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