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10 Mar 2026
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10 Mar 2026
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The widow of Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek has said she is missing him “tremendously” on his first birthday since his death last month at 48.
Kimberly Van Der Beek paid tribute to her late husband on what would have been his 49th birthday.
The actor died on February 11 after suffering from bowel cancer.
In a string of Instagram stories, his wife shared photos and videos from their family life and wrote: “Would be your 49th birthday today. And I’m missing you tremendously.”
In a number of the clips he can be seen dancing with his children.
Kimberly added: “You are the light of our lives. Your love. Beauty. Presence. Tenderness. Protection. Safety. Creativity. Singing.
“I’m so grateful for the time.
In one photo James can be seen holding one of their babies as a newborn, and Kimberly captioned it: “The way you were at births, held our newborns, revered me… I will cherish forever.”
She added: “Baby, you were the best humanity had to offer. This is a loss I don’t know how to process. I will love you forever.”
The couple share six children: daughters Olivia, Annabel, Emilia and Gwendolyn; plus sons Joshua and Jeremiah.
Kimberly also shared a video of Emilia, nine, speaking about her late father in an emotional video as she gave advice to others on grief.
Her mother captioned the video: “Emilia asked me if she could make a video to post today, walked outside and came back with this.
“In my stories are a whole lot of photos and some videos. All I want to do is watch videos of him right now with the kids.
“Thank you for the tremendous heart, love and support for the family.
“James… we will celebrate March 8th every day for the rest of our lives.”
James rose to fame playing Dawson Leery in the popular US teen drama, Dawson’s Creek, which ran for six seasons from 1998 until 2003.
He starred opposite Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams as the central quartet of hyper-articulate teens who were constantly embroiled in complex romantic entanglements.
A GoFundMe for James’s family has raised more than 2.7 million US dollars (£2 million).
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