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Ryan Reynolds Publicly Mourns The Loss Of His Father To Parkinson’s

By Niki Cruz
Published on: 08:17 PST, Oct 28, 2015

Actor Ryan Reynolds is mourning the loss of his father. According to E!, the actor, who has publicly talked about his father’s battle with Parkinson’s disease, took to Instagram to mourn his sudden loss.

In an Instagram post, Reynolds posted a photo of an old picture of his father as a young man, holding Ryan as a child. He captioned the photo with, “RIP Pops. James C. Reynolds 1941 – 2015.” The actor’s father was 74-years-old.

Reynolds told people to donate and support the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which helps raise awareness of Parkinson’s disease. Ryan’s father lost his battle with the disease after 20 years. Ryan, who is a new father, named his daughter James after his father.

The actor, who’s ordinarily private, opened up about his father’s battle with Parkinson’s disease to Time magazine:

“[He was] the toughest man alive: a former cop, former boxer and full-time landmine. He worked tirelessly to provide for his family and in return, you were expected to do what he said, often before he said it,” Ryan said in November 2014.”

“In a word, he was scary. Not because he was sadistic or physically abusive. He was scary because he was one of those people with an energetic weight to him. Shifting his weight ever so slightly from one foot to another could transform an otherwise delightful 6th birthday party into what felt like an Irish funeral.”

Parkinson’s disease has no cure. The disease is a neurological disorder that causes tremors in the body. Reynolds serves the Michael J. Fox foundation as a member of the board of directors. He opened up about his father’s struggle when he revealed that he was going to run the New York Marathon to promote awareness and support for Parkinson’s.

At the time, he detailed his father’s struggle and gave credit to Parkinson’s survivor Michael J. Fox. Of his father’s battle with the disease, he said he’s witnessed a strong man, who raised four children, deteriorate. Reynolds said his father was “slowly, cruelly stripped of his independence.”

Of his involvement in the Michael J. Fox foundation, he said witnessing his dad suffer from the disease made him take a stand. When he got involved with the Michael J. Fox foundation, Reynolds said that stepping up helped him heal and eliminated apathy and helplessness. When talking about how his father dealt with his Parkinson’s back in 2008, the actor said that his father didn’t discuss the disease because he comes from a generation that’s too prideful.

In James Reynolds’ obituary, it says that he died on October 25 in a hospital in White Rock, B.C. It states that he passed away with family and friends by his side and is survived by his four sons, Patrick, Terry, Jeffrey, and of course, Ryan. He had six grandchildren, including little James. The obituary characterizes James “Jim” Reynolds as a man who didn’t let his disease get in the way of living his life to the fullest.

As for James’ namesake, Ryan’s daughter, the actor told E! that she’s the best thing to ever happen to him, despite the fact that he and wife actress Blake Lively aren’t getting any sleep these days. As for his lack of sleep, he said that naturally, anything that woke a person up every 45 minutes would be killed, but since she is his daughter, who he so obviously loves, it’s the best thing to ever happen. At the time, he also had to gush about his partner, Lively, and he said that being a new parent made him closer to her.

[Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]

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