Jennifer Garner took to social media Monday to remember her dad, William Garner, after he died Saturday at the age of 85.
The actress said family members were nearby when he passed peacefully on Saturday afternoon.
“We were with him, singing Amazing Grace as he left us (did we carry him across or scare him away— valid question),” she wrote in a post on Instagram. “While there is no tragedy in the death of an 85 year old man who lived a healthy, wonderful life, I know grief is unavoidable, waiting around unexpected corners.”
She shared photos of her father and a clip of the two of them in a 2016 Capital One credit card commercial.
“Today is for gratitude,” she wrote. “We are grateful for Dad’s gentle demeanor and quiet strength. For how he teased with a mischievous smile, and for the way he invented the role of all in, ever patient girl dad. We are grateful for his work ethic, leadership and faith.”
She added thanks to medical workers at the Charleston Area Medical Center and City of Hope, saying their care “extended Dad’s life and gave him time to be in his favorite spots— surrounded by daughters and grandchildren, cheering for his beloved Aggies, captaining a boat, and— most of all—next to his wife of 59 years, our Mom.”
William Garner and his wife, Patricia, celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary on Dec. 31. In a Jan. 1 post on Instagram, Jennifer Garner celebrated the couple, calling them “incredibly sweet and loving parents.”
“Thank you, Mom and Dad, for giving my sisters and me such a secure, happy start to life,” she wrote.
William Garner is survived by his wife; daughters, Melissa Wyle, Jennifer Garner and Susannah Carpenter; brother Jerry Garner; grandchildren Jack, Emma, Griffin, Violet, Alex, Seraphina and Sam, and several cousins, nephews and nieces, according to his obituary.
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