Martina McBride has confirmed that her mother, Jeanne Schiff, has passed away. The country singer was by her mother’s side on Friday (January 10), when Schiff died following emergency heart surgery in Kansas.
Opening up on Instagram, McBride wrote a heartfelt tribute to the woman who raised her and her three siblings, sharing vintage photos and a moving remembrance.
“My mom passed away this morning. She was a complex and amazing woman,” McBride shared. “Strong. Chic. No-nonsense. Hilarious. Witty. She had the prettiest hair and skin and hands…I loved her hands.
“She took good care of us,” McBride went on. “Our house was always the house where all the aunts, uncles, and cousins gathered, and she was really the reason for that. She made her 4 kids self sufficient, told us to go outside and play, gave us chores to do and taught us how to work. She wasn’t one to smother you with affection, do your homework for you, or attend every ballgame, but we always knew she was there for us. As we all got older we had many conversations about life, faith, morals, health, and the importance of getting your beauty sleep. She’d start every phone call or message with ‘Martina. This is your mother.’ She loved to laugh and to tell stories to get a laugh. And even though she told me in the hospital that she wasn’t ‘an enthusiastic cook’ she made the best fried chicken I’ve ever tasted. “
McBride said she spent her mother’s final week with her in intensive care — along with her father and siblings — but despite the best efforts of doctors, Schiff’s heart never recovered from the surgery.
“During that week I held her hand, rubbed her shoulders, stroked her face, told her I loved her and she told me she loved me,” McBride wrote. “Even though I wish it had ended differently I wouldn’t have traded that time with her for anything. So now we try and move forward without our matriarch. And somehow, in time, we will. Because she taught us how to be strong. I love you Mom. 1/10/20″
McBride recently launched her Vocal Point podcast, where she interviews fellow artists like Garth Brooks, celebrity chefs and more in Nashville.
