Breaking Amish star Mama Mary Schmucker died at the age of 65 following a two-year battle with colon cancer.
The reality star passed away at her home in Pennsylvania on Friday, March 28, as a result of complications from her cancer, her son, Andrew Schmucker, told TMZ. She was briefly hospitalized in the week before her death. Andrew told the outlet that the rest of the family has been notified and that he is currently on his way to Pennsylvania from his home in Arkansas.
Mary made her TLC debut during season 1 of Breaking Amish in 2012 before returning for the spinoff series Return to Amish in 2014. The show followed a group of Amish individuals who left their traditional communities to experience life in the outside world. She continued to be a central figure until she announced in a March 2022 Instagram Live that she would be leaving the show.
“I am not coming back on TV, but a lot of the others went back. I would love to come back on TV, but there’s too many issues that won’t work for me,” the Pennsylvania native said at the time. “I would like to come back, but come back as we are doing now. I feel we should do a story like what happened after the show, where we are now and what happened to us, so people know, but they don’t want to do that.”
Only one month later, she revealed her cancer diagnosis. “I just want to give a little update,” Mary wrote via her private Tupperware sales Facebook group in April 2022. “As you know I have colon cancer, and I am scheduled for surgery this month.”
After Mary underwent a procedure that month, a friend of the TLC personality updated pals two days later on April 24, 2022. “I talked to Mary this morning,” the friend said. “She says the doctor feels he was able to get all the cancer!! And she’s coming home today!!”
Mary has rarely been seen online since her diagnosis, only returning to Facebook briefly in August to reshare a post about how schools should teach children how to write in cursive. She also reposted a TikTok video from daughter-in-law Rebecca Schmucker asking for help raising funds for relatives who lost their 1-year-old son after a battle with heart issues.
Fans received an update on Mary in November 2024 when Rebecca, 33, shared a serious statement on her condition.
“I’m making a prayer request for mom. She’s not feeling good the last few weeks and can’t keep anything down and she’s having trouble eating. She is on hospice now,” Rebecca wrote via Instagram next to a photo of the family matriarch on November 13, 2024. “Her pain has been so bad and they are helping with that. If you could, flood her with positive messages and pray for her to be comfortable and pain free. Thank you!”
