Parade says that Etterlene DeBarge, the head of the DeBarge family, has died. She was 88 years old.
In an Instagram post on Friday, February 16, her daughter Etterlene “Bunny” DeBarge revealed that her mother had died.
“Mama went to see her king!” Mom passed away this morning, February 16th, at 7:40 a.m. Pacific time in Woodland Hill, California. “At age 88, she died peacefully in her sleep,” the post said.
El DeBarge also shared the news of his mother’s passing on Instagram with a touching tribute.
“The Queen of My Heart, my beautiful mama, has gone home to the loving arms of her Savior Jesus 🙌🏽 There wasn’t a single day that her faith wavered one bit even when her health began to fail.,” El’s post read. “She was so ready to reunite with her loved ones who passed before her – her brothers & sisters, especially her sons, Bobby & Tommy.”
From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you all for your kind words and love for the family. “We feel it, and it makes our sad hearts feel better,” his post went on.
The official cause of death was not released, but TMZ said that DeBarge was dealing with dementia.
She was born in Michigan on October 13, 1935, and married Robert DeBarge in 1953. They had ten children together. She got a divorce from Robert in 1974 after years of being abused by him.
Bobby DeBarge Jr. would go on to be the lead singer of the Motown group Switch, which had a lot of hits in the 1970s. The kids also signed with Motown and started the famous band DeBarge, which has fans all over the world.
Etterlene married George Rodriguez in 1980, and they were together until she died.
In 1991, she put out the gospel record “Back on Track,” which she was affectionately called “Mama DeBarge.” In 2005, she put out “A City Called Heaven.”
In 2007, she wrote a book called “Other Side of the Pain,” which was a story about how she got through an abusive marriage and how her children became famous very quickly.
Etterlene DeBarge’s husband, George, eight of her children, and many grandkids will miss her.
It was her kids Robert DeBarge Jr. and Tommy DeBarge who died before her.
We are sorry for your loss and will pray for the DeBarge family.
