Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced that his mother, Jacqueline “Jackie” Gise Bezos, has died at her home in Miami at the age of 78 after a long battle with Lewy body dementia, Page Six reported. “After a long struggle, she left us today, surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and my father. I know that in her final moments she felt our love. We were all fortunate to be part of her life. I will keep her in my heart forever,” he wrote on Instagram.

Bezos, 61, recalled that his mother had him at just 17, when she was married to his biological father, Ted Jorgensen, with whom they were together from 1963 to 1965. After the divorce, she raised Jeff on her own until she married Miguel Bezos in 1968, who became his second father. The family was later completed by their daughter Christina and their son Mark.

A published obituary states that Jackie was diagnosed with the disease in 2020 and describes her as “a passionate advocate and a supportive figure, filled with a heart for others and never agreeing with the status quo.” She founded the Bezos Family Foundation in 2000 and also had a longstanding partnership with the Fred Hutch cancer center in Seattle, which helped the discoveries of new cancer immunotherapies.

Jackie also played a key role in the launch of Amazon, investing nearly $250,000 in 1995. “I love you, Mom,” Jeff Bezos concludes his emotional message. |BGNES