Stephen Colbert Mother Dies, Host Delivers Heartfelt Tribute
In a rare break of character, Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert started his show last night addressing the audience as himself. He was returning from a week-long break from the show, which he took after his 92-year-old mother, Lorna Colbert, passed away.
Before the show began, Colbert addressed the audience and spoke of what a great woman Lorna was, and what a great mother she was to her 11 children. Colbert was the youngest of the 11 children.
"No fight between siblings could end without hugs and kisses, though hugs never needed a reason in her house. Singing and dancing were encouraged, except at the dinner table. She had trained as an actress when she was younger and she would teach us how to do stage falls by pretending to faint on the kitchen floor," the Comedy Central host said through obvious sorrow.
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"She was fun. She knew more than her share of tragedy, losing her brother, husband, and three of her sons, but her love for her family and her faith in God somehow not only gave her the strength to go on, but to love life without bitterness, and to instill in all of us a gratitude for every day we have together," he said.
Lorna Colbert died at age 92 after battling a long illness. According to her obituary in The Charleston Post and Courier, the late Lorna Colbert was "an accomplished artist, a church leader, a businesswoman, a supporter of the arts and a woman whose profound faith was apparent in her daily life."
In his heartfelt tribute, Stephen Colbert mentioned his mother's faith. He discussed her waning mental state towards the end of her life, stating that she often couldn't answer simple questions. But there was one simple question she could answer.
"When asked what her favorite prayer was, she immediately recited a child's prayer in German that she used to say to my eldest brothers and sisters at bedtime when they were living in Munich in the late 1940s. Her favorite memory of prayer was as a young mother tucking in her children. We were the light of her life and she let us know it until the end, and that's it," Colbert said sorrowfully.
