Kris Jenner’s Mom Mary Jo "MJ" Shannon Dead at 91

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The Kardashian-Jenner family has lost one of their own.

Kris Jenner shared her mom MJ Shannon died on July 16. She was 91.

“Today, we said goodbye to my beautiful Mommy MJ,” Kris captioned an Instagram post featuring a photo of her mom. “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.”

Kris went on to note that the matriarch—grandma to Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Krdashian, Khloe Kardashian, Rob Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner—taught her “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,” Kris continued. “She taught us that family is everything. She showed us how to love unconditionally and how to find joy in the little moments. 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,” she noted. “I will miss our daily talks, your smile, your laughter… Our hearts are broken, but we find comfort knowing that love like yours never truly leaves us. Your love will live on in our family, in our traditions, in every moment we are together, and in every life you touched.”

As Kris shared, she sees her mom in every aspect of her life.

“When I look at my kids and my grandkids, I will forever see pieces of you in all of us,” she wrote. “There is not a part of me that isn’t shaped by you. 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. Every memory, every moment, every blessing, it was all because of you, and I will forever thank God every single day for making you my mommy.”

“My heart is broken into a million pieces,” Kris concluded. “Thank you for giving me the greatest childhood and oh what a beautiful blessed life… I love you forever Mommy. Thank you for giving us everything.”

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Born Mary Jo Campbell on July 26, 1934, the Arkansas native had already gone through a divorce with her high school sweetheart before marrying Kris’ dad Robert True "Bob" Houghton in 1954.

As she once candidly put it of her first marriage, “I just thought, ‘You know what? This isn’t really that much fun,’ so I got out of it.'“

“And you try to stay in there for a month or so and really try hard, and you just can’t,” MJ continued in a 2017 video with her granddaughter Kim. “You think, ‘I shouldn’t waste his time.’”

MJ gave birth to Kris in 1955, before breaking up with Bob seven years later. She went on to marry businessman Harry Shannon, who was a father figure to Kris and her younger sister Karen Houghton until his death in 2003.

At the time, MJ ran a kids' clothing store in San Diego.

“My dad was in a car accident in 2003, and when he was in the hospital, my mom wanted to close the store, but I said I would run it for her,” Kris recalled in a 2015 interview with Haute Living. "I was exhausted trying to make it all work from San Diego, but I knew my mom and dad needed me."

Harry died from a staph infection he contracted while hospitalized, which Kris recalled was "so devastating" to the family.

Instagram/Kris Jenner

"I knew I had to find something to throw myself into that I was good at, so Kourtney and I opened a children’s store," she explained, adding that the family signed agreed to star on Keeping Up With the Kardashians "because we thought it would be great exposure for our stores—as well as having fun."

And MJ was a mainstay on both KUWTK, which ran for 20 seasons from 2007 to 2021, and its Hulu successor The Kardashians. Most notably, she appeared in a 2022 episode of The Kardashians in which Kim said she had sex in front of a fireplace with then-boyfriend Pete Davidson "in honor" of MJ.

"Pete and I were staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel last weekend, and we were sitting in front of the fireplace, just talking for hours," the SKIMS founder shared at the time. "And I was like, 'My grandma told me that you really live life when you have sex in front of the fireplace.'"

Byron Cohen via Getty Images

MJ's declining health was also discussed on The Kardashians, with Kris sharing in a 2025 episode that her mom "struggles with so much" following Karen's death at 65 the prior year.

"She's frail," Kris shared in a confessional. "Ever since my sister passed away, she's been super sad."

That same episode, MJ, a great-grandmother to 13, said that she had been experiencing mobility issues due to pain.

“This makes me really sad," Kris tearfully added. "I just hate it when she’s in so much pain."

Read on to see Kris and MJ's family photos.

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