Jennifer Garner shared with her social media followers on Monday that her father William Garner has died.
He was 85 years old, she wrote in the post.
Garner posted a series of photos of her father and a video of them together in a Capital One credit card commercial on her verified Instagram account, writing, “My dad passed peacefully 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 continued, in a moment of levity. “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.”
The “Alias” actress said she was feeling gratitude.
“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 wrote in the post, adding her family’s thanks “to the medical communities of Charleston Area Medical Center and City of Hope.”
“There is so much to say about my dad— my sisters and I will never be done talking about how wonderful he was, so bear with us— but for today I share these memories with my appreciation for the kind and brilliant man, father, and grandfather he was, as well as the loving legacy he left behind,” Garner wrote.
In January, she celebrated her parents’ 59th wedding anniversary with another post on Instagram.
“Happy 59th anniversary to my incredibly sweet and loving parents,” she wrote in the caption at the time. “Thank you, Mom and Dad, for giving my sisters and me such a secure, happy start to life.”