Kris Jenner Mourns Death of Her Beloved Mother Mary Jo 'MJ' Shannon, Kardashian Family Matriarch, at 91

Kris Jenner is mourning the death of her mother, Mary Jo "MJ" Shannon, a beloved fixture of the Kardashian-Jenner family's reality television empire who died Thursday at the age of 91.

Jenner announced her mother's death in an emotional Instagram post Thursday morning, sharing a photo of Shannon alongside a lengthy tribute. "Today, we said goodbye to my beautiful Mommy MJ," Jenner wrote. "There are no words that could ever capture what she has meant to me or the heartbreak of having to say goodbye. My mom was the heart of our family. She taught me everything that truly matters ... to love your family fiercely, to be kind, to show up for the people you love, and to never take a single moment together for granted."

Jenner, 70, continued her tribute by reflecting on the values her mother instilled in the family across generations. "She taught us that family is everything. She showed us how to love unconditionally and how to find joy in the little moments," Jenner wrote. "She showed me how to face life's challenges with resilience and faith. Mom, thank you for every sacrifice you made, every piece of wisdom you shared, and every moment you loved us so completely."

The post continued with Jenner describing how deeply her mother had shaped both her and her own children and grandchildren. "When I look at my kids and my grandkids, I will forever see pieces of you in all of us. There is not a part of me that isn't shaped by you," Jenner wrote. "And if I have done anything right in this world, it's because I spent my life trying to live in a way that would make you proud." She closed the tribute by writing that her heart was "broken into a million pieces" and thanking her mother for giving her "the greatest childhood."

Shannon was widely known to fans of the family's reality television franchise, having made frequent appearances across both "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" on E! and its Hulu successor, "The Kardashians." She was the grandmother to Jenner's six children — Kourtney Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, Rob Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner — and was affectionately known to viewers simply as "MJ." Following news of her death, several members of the family shared their own tributes on social media, including Kim Kardashian, who posted a message mourning her grandmother and expressing hope that she was now at peace.

Shannon's life included both personal loss and resilience in the years before her death. Her younger daughter and Jenner's sister, Karen Houghton, died unexpectedly in 2024, a loss that Jenner has said weighed heavily on her mother in the time since. During a 2025 episode of "The Kardashians," Jenner grew emotional discussing her mother's wellbeing in the aftermath of Houghton's death, saying she recognized her mother had been struggling and that she felt a responsibility to be there for her. In that same episode, Shannon revealed she had been dealing with significant physical pain that had kept her out of her own kitchen for two days, prompting an emotional response from Jenner, who said it upset her to see her mother in so much discomfort. Shannon was also a two-time cancer survivor, having previously battled both breast and colon cancer.

Shannon was married three times over the course of her life. Her first marriage lasted only a matter of months. She later married Robert Houghton, an engineer, with whom she had Jenner and Karen Houghton; that marriage ended when Jenner was seven years old. Shannon went on to marry businessman Harry Shannon, who became a father figure to both Jenner and her sister and remained married to MJ for roughly four decades until his death in a 2003 car accident. Jenner has said Harry Shannon's death, which came after he contracted a staph infection while hospitalized following the crash, was devastating for the family.

Before the Kardashian-Jenner family built its retail and clothing ventures, including the Calabasas boutique Dash, MJ ran her own children's clothing store, Shannon & Company, which she opened in San Diego in 1980. Jenner has spoken previously about growing up around the shop and eventually helping run the business as a young woman, particularly during the period when Harry Shannon was hospitalized following his accident. In a 2015 interview with Haute Living, Jenner recalled that her mother had wanted to close the store during that difficult stretch, but that she insisted on running it herself despite the strain of commuting to keep it going. MJ herself later reflected on those early days of the shop in a 2012 interview with the Daily Beast, recalling a young Kim Kardashian sitting on the store floor counting money and singing a playful made-up rhyme about counting cash.

Shannon's warmth and candor made her a favorite among longtime viewers of the family's various reality shows, where she was known for heart-to-heart conversations with Jenner and warm relationships with other members of the extended family, including Kourtney Kardashian's longtime partner and father of three of her children, Scott Disick. Her appearances often provided some of the franchise's more grounded, emotionally resonant moments across its nearly two-decade run.

News of Shannon's death drew an outpouring of tributes from fans of the family alongside the statements from Jenner and her children, with many recalling MJ's frequent television appearances and her reputation as a warm, resilient matriarch who remained closely involved in the family's life well into her nineties. Funeral and memorial arrangements had not been publicly announced as of Thursday afternoon, and the family has not released additional details regarding the circumstances of her death.