What Happened to Nan Drummond, The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond’s Mother-in-Law?
Ree Drummond is all about family. It’s rare for a day to go by without The Pioneer Woman mentioning her children, her husband, or her fur babies (her dogs). There was one family member in particular who held a special place in her heart. Ree often speaks about Nan, her late mother-in-law. Here’s what happened to Nan Drummond.
The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond and Nan Drummond loved Sandra Bullock’s ‘Hope Floats’
Ree and Nan shared a close bond. She says they used to spend time together watching movies. One movie Ree used to watch with Nan was Hope Floats, starring Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr.
Ree shared with her fans an unexpected moment of grief she experienced after seeing the ending of Hope Floats. She says the film reminds her of when she and Nan had movie nights. They made a point to watch the film whenever it aired on TV. Ree says when the movie aired after Nan passed away, she began to cry.
“I just noticed it was on today, so I watched the last half hour and turned into a sobbing, blubbering mess,” says Ree on Instagram. “A completely unexpected, out-of-the-blue moment of grief… but a sweet one, too.”
What happened to Nan Drummond on ‘The Pioneer Woman’?
Nan passed away on May 24, 2018, after a cancer battle. She was 74 years old. Ree posted a touching tribute to her mother-in-law on Instagram. “I’m not sure any of us know quite what we’re going to do without her,” she wrote. “She was magnificent.”
Ree described Nan as the family’s “rock.” She was a source of strength for the Drummond’s. “It’s a difficult loss for our family, as she was such a rock for all of us,” wrote Ree on The Pioneer Woman website. “We all had some time to prepare for this, though I’ve found over the course of the past few days that nothing really prepares you for losing someone who is so much a part of the fabric of your family’s daily life.”
Ree Drummond honored Nan Drummond with a special episode of ‘The Pioneer Woman’
The year Nan died, a new season of The Pioneer Woman began. Ree says the crew started filming on a Wednesday and Nan died the next day on a Thursday. Despite their grief, Ree says she and her husband, Ladd Drummond, decided to move forward and continue filming the show. They had the option to film that first episode of the new season as if nothing happened, but the couple wanted to open up and share exactly what they were feeling at that time in their lives.
“This Saturday’s episode of my show was filmed just after Nan died,” wrote Ree in a 2018 blog post. “When we normally film our show, we document what’s going on around the ranch at that time. Folks who’ve watched our show through the years have gotten to know Nan, too. So, we decided to devote an episode to one of the days just after Grammie died. We were all working at the cemetery, and we have a family lunch together. It’s sad, but it’s real. And we all held ourselves together pretty well.”
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