Oprah Winfrey announced that her father Vernon Winfrey died on July 8, Friday. He died at the age of 89 because of cancer.
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Oprah Winfrey, an American talk show host’s father Vernon Winfrey died recently on July 8. Vernon was a barber and businessman in Nashville. Additionally, Oprah said that he was battling cancer. Oprah posted the video of her dad giving a tribute on Saturday, July 9 via Instagram.
Furthermore, she captions the post,
“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 a 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.”
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In the video shared by the host on Instagram, @oprahdaily commented,
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Similarly, Winfrey also gave a special surprise party on Monday, July 4. On the other hand, she was hosting a backyard barbecue. And the main reason for the occasion was to hold her dad’s Appreciation Day.
Not only this, but she also announced in the video while showing off the banner,
“My father is ill and so we wanted to be able to have all of his friends come and celebrate him while he’s able to receive the joy.”
As we can also see in the video, Oprah answered her best friend, Gayle King question if her father was “excited” about the celebration. Though, a television host said,
“He doesn’t even know that this is for him. He thinks it’s a Fourth of July thing,” she continued. “He doesn’t know … He’s gonna walk out and see everything.”
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Aso, she captions the post,
“Giving my father his “flowers” while he’s still well enough to smell them. Happy 4th of July as you gather with your family and friends. Remember to celebrate each other ?”
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Besides this, Oprah also speaks about her dad in several interviews and this shows how much she loves her dad. Likewise, In June 2021, she said to People when asked about her father ahead of the OWN special titled Honoring Our Kings, Celebrating Black Fatherhood,
“I had a father who took responsibility for me, even though he knew I could have been somebody else’s child.”
Furthermore, she added,
“My mother and father never married. 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.”
source: USA Today
Moreover, Oprah also said about Black fathers and their struggles and hard work for their children,
“I saw that over and over again in my father’s barbershop. Men would come in, hardworking men, doing everything they could in their lives to support their families, working sometimes two or three jobs to do that. So that’s the story I know of Black fathers — the ones I grew up with and the man I know. In the narrative of the absentee father, it’s not accurate that that is the only picture. That’s what I want to say.”
Our heartfelt condolences to the grieving family, may the departed soul Rest in Peace!
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