Kimberly Van Der Beek Honors James on First Father’s Day Without Him

Published: June 21, 2026

AUSTIN, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 30: James Van Der Beek (R) and Kimberly Van Der Beek attend HFC’s Brain Health Dinner on September 30, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images for Hilarity for Charity)

By Movieguide® Staff

Kimberly Van Der Beek honored her late husband James on the first Father’s Day since his death, posting a series of photos to Instagram celebrating the DAWSON’S CREEK star she called a marvel in life — and apparently still in death.

The actor, a father of six, died February 11 at age 48 after a prolonged battle with stage 3 colorectal cancer. He and Kimberly married in August 2010 and over the following decade welcomed six children: Olivia, now 15; Joshua, 13; Annabel, 11; Emilia, 10; Gwendolyn, 8; and Jeremiah, 5.

“Missing you so much and thinking of how magnificent you were in every single way today,” she wrote in the June 21 Instagram post. “And somehow, from the other side? You continue to parent. You’re a marvel.”

Movieguide® covered Van Der Beek’s faith journey extensively during his illness — including his declaration that cancer transformed his relationship with God from a compartmentalized practice into “the whole point of life.” That conviction runs through the tributes his family and friends offered Sunday.

Longtime family friend Dr. Cass Naumann left a comment beneath Kimberly’s post that cut straight to what made Van Der Beek tick as a man.

“The only thing that brought him more joy than being a father was being your husband,” Naumann wrote. “He was/is such a role model to my son of what a loving, healthy father looks like.”

The grief has been slow to show its full weight. Last month, on May 12, Kimberly wrote candidly about the shifting texture of loss — the moment the shock begins to wear off and reality moves in.

“To say I’m heartbroken is a severe understatement. Words just don’t capture what grief is,” she posted on Instagram. “The comforts of shock have worn off. The reality is settling in… and I miss him. We all miss him.”

Two days before his death, Van Der Beek and Kimberly renewed their wedding vows, friends filling their bedroom with flowers and candles as they exchanged new rings. It was one last deliberate act of love — the kind of thing that tells you exactly what a man valued.

The tributes weren’t limited to immediate family. Mary-Margaret Humes, 72 — who played Van Der Beek’s television mother Gail Leery on DAWSON’S CREEK — posted a throwback photo the day before Father’s Day featuring her, Van Der Beek as Dawson Leery, and John Wesley Shipp as patriarch Mitch Leery.

“A shout out to simpler times,” Humes captioned the photo. “My advice? Give big, meaningful hugs and tell them you love them while you still have the chance.”

It’s counsel that lands differently when the person you’re honoring made fatherhood the center of his identity. Van Der Beek spoke openly during his cancer battle about how illness reshaped his priorities, and the family relocated from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, in 2020. He kept working despite his health — appearing in the CW’s WALKER (2024) and Amazon Prime Video’s OVERCOMPENSATING (2025) — but his focus had long since shifted to his children.

Van Der Beek’s daughter Emilia, now 10, said it plainest of all. In March, in a video her mother shared to Instagram, she offered tips to anyone else grieving a loss — talk to them, feel them in your heart, know they are watching. And then she said this:

“I know that my dad’s in a good place. He’s not in pain anymore. He’s in heaven above the clouds with God and the Lord.”

Van Der Beek once said his cancer diagnosis took faith from being “a piece of my life” to “the whole point of life.” Sunday, his family lived that out — grieving hard, holding on, and trusting that the man they lost is somewhere they’ll find him again.

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