How did Barbara Thore die? 'My Big Fat Fabulous Life' star Whitney calls mom, 76, 'family's greatest gift'

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA: Barbara "Babs" Thore, best known as Whitney Way Thore's mom on TLC’s 'My Big Fat Fabulous Life,' is no more. In an emotional Instagram post, daughter Whitney mentioned that her 76-year-old mother died at 10.32 pm on Wednesday, December 7, writing, "Rest In Peace, Sweet Mommy. June 22, 1946—December 7, 2022."

Whitney, 38, captioned a video featuring photos of Barbara and wrote, "My mother died last night just as the credits rolled on her favorite movie. Dad, Hunter, and I held her as she took her last breaths. It was 10:32 pm, the same exact time she brought me into this world almost forty years ago." She further added, "My mother is our family’s greatest gift. We could never love, revere, or value another person more. If you’re reading this, you’re familiar with her magic: her southern charm, her hilarious sense of humor, her well-timed witty remarks, her beauty, and her ability to make everyone around her feel comfortable and cared for. But what you can’t possibly understand is the extent of my mother’s love — what you may have witnessed and felt through a TV screen is a minute fraction that, even if multiplied by a million, wouldn’t come close to 'real life.' That’s how enormous, how generous, and how all-encompassing my mother’s love was."