Chrishelle Stause's Parents, Ranae And Jeff Stause, Died Less Than Two Years Apart
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If you've watched Selling Sunset, you've seen fan-favorite Chrishell Stause.
Chrishell was the new agent in town when the show first began—and she quickly endeared herself to viewers with her candor about growing up without a home and the hustle she had to bring when it came to selling those multi-million dollar mansions. (She's seriously impressive.)
In season 3, Chrishell’s shocking divorce from This Is Us actor Justin Hartley took center stage, with her even taking a break from the real estate game to visit her big sister Shonda in St. Louis.
"Sometimes in L.A., we get too caught up in things that are supposed to matter that really don’t, and being here, you know, this is exactly what I think really does matter and really is something to be so proud of," Chrishell said in a confessional after her trip home. "They've been married so long and they have this beautiful family. I just think it's really hard to be around because that’s what I really wanted and that's what I'm realizing I don't have. But it helps me be inspired to know that it might be out there, it just might take a different path than what I was thinking."
It may surprise viewers to know that while all of this was going on, Chrishell’s parents were sick. Here's what you need to know about their unfortunate passing.
Jeff Stause died on Easter Day in 2019.
Chrishell’s dad Jeff died in April 2019 after a long battle with lung cancer: “We lost you today but it was a long, terrible battle with cancer that started taking you years ago,” the former Days of Our Lives star shared on Instagram at the time. “I choose to remember you the way you were before it took its hold on you. You are at peace now, and ever the Catholic man at heart, I think you chose Easter for a reason.”
Jeff adopted Chrishell at birth. And since she's never met her biological father, she's always called Jeff dad.
“I am happy knowing he took his music to heaven,” she wrote of Jeff on Instagram, who was a drummer. “It just got a lot more rock and roll up there. We love you so much.” Chrishell called her father the heartbeat of their “unconventional family.”
On World Cancer Day, Chrishell found out her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer—the same kind that killed her dad.
Just months later, in February 2020, Chrishell shared that her mother Ranae was diagnosed with the same disease—and only had a few months left to live.
“I just found out today is #worldcancerday eerily on the same day I found out my mom has 1 to 2 months to live from the same lung cancer that took my dad on Easter,” Chrishell shared on her Instagram. “I can’t make sense of what life is teaching me yet, but my heart is with every person fighting this horrible disease and every person that it robbed a loved one from.”
Chrishell and her mother grew closer after the diagnosis.
Though the pandemic made it impossible for the now 40-year-old star to see her mother, it strengthened their relationship.
“My mom is suffering from stage 4 lung cancer and because of COVID I haven’t been able to see her,” she told Us Weekly at the time. “However, now we talk on the phone every day, which we never did before. In the strangest turn of events, something that by design is keeping us apart has actually made us closer than ever.”
Chrishell gave her mother her wig during her cancer treatments.
While visiting family in Murray, Kentucky, Chrishell posted some sweet Instagram videos of her mother wearing a wig that might look familiar. Chrishell wore it to the AMAs, but figured it was perfect for her mom.
"Now since my mom has lost her hair from cancer treatment, I felt like what better time to dust it off and have a little fun?? Here’s me teaching my mom to give a good soap turn-hair flip," Chrishell wrote on Instagram.
Ranae Stause died in July 2020 with her daughter by her side.
Chrishell said she found comfort in the fact that her parents were together again.
“In disbelief that you are gone. Feeling just about every emotion, but I find comfort knowing Dad is up there taking care of you and showing you the ropes like only he could,” Chrishell wrote on Instagram. “Absolutely heartbreaking watching you take your last labored breath, but there is a peace knowing you two are together again, free from the pain that plagued your time here. A free spirit and rebel till the very end. My beautiful Mom, in your own words #FuckCancer.”
Chrishell's mother was working at a Shell gas station when she went into labor with the reality star.
If you thought Chrishell was a sort of unique name, there's a reason! The star's name was inspired by a Shell gas station, where Ranae was working at the time.
She performed a touching tribute to her parents on Dancing With the Stars.
Chrishell held back tears as she danced to "Stars" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. She shared that she listened to the song often while processing the death of her parents.
“They were really loving people,” she said of her parents, according to Pop Sugar. "Some of my best memories are with my mom, dancing with her in the living room. No one would be more excited about me being here and doing the show than her.”
She used the performance to bring awareness to cancer and Stand Up To Cancer, an organization focused on the long-term survival of cancer patients.
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