The ex-wife of actor Alan Thicke, who died Tuesday, said his sons are “devastated” by their father’s sudden death.
Thicke died Tuesday of a heart attack after he was playing ice hockey at a rink in Burbank, California.
Gloria Loring, Thicke’s first wife and the mother of Robin Thicke, the singer, and Brennan Thicke, said they’re distraught, People magazine reported on Friday.
“My son Brennan sent me a text that said: ‘Dad’s had a heart attack—it’s a big deal,'” Loring, 70, told the magazine. “I called back but he didn’t answer the phone. Then I got a call from Robin after that. Robin said that they had taken him to the hospital and that he was going into surgery. I said: ‘Well, that sounds hopeful.'”
But later, it was reported that Thicke, who starred as Dr. Jason Seaver in the ABC TV show “Growing Pains,” died of a heart attack.
Right after the initial text from Brennan, Loring recalled receiving another text from him, confirming his father’s death. “When I read it, I said out loud: ‘No.’ At first, I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I thought: ‘What? No. It can’t be true. It’s too fast. It’s too final.'”
Today I lost my best friend and my idol, and the world lost one of it’s finest. You are a legend and I love you Pops. Until next time. pic.twitter.com/ZQd2NZMTx4
— Carter Thicke (@CarterThicke) December 14, 2016
Loring added that her sons were “just devastated and could barely talk.”
After his father’s passing, Robin told the Los Angeles Times this week that he was “the greatest man I ever met” and “always a gentleman.”
“I saw him a few days ago and told him how much I loved and respected him,” he told the LA Times.
His youngest son, Carter, 19, tweeted that he lost his “best friend and my idol.” It was reported that Alan and Carter Thicke were playing hockey together when the tragedy struck.
Robin Thicke posts tribute to late father Alan Thicke: “He was the best man I ever knew.” https://t.co/bXtDC1rttA pic.twitter.com/AeA8iEvhIF
— ABC News (@ABC) December 14, 2016
Loring, who starred in soap opera “Days of our Lives,” expressed sorrow for Thicke’s widow, Tanya Callau, whom he married about a decade ago.
“We all feel so devastated for Tanya and for Carter,” she told People. “They’re living with him every day. That physical loss—we have the emotional and psychological loss—but for them to also have the physical loss of his presence and his humor and his perspective and wisdom and guidance … my heart goes out to both of them so much.”
