Fox News host Kat Timpf has shared a heartbreaking family tragedy after revealing that her father, Daniel “Dad Timpf” Timpf, has died unexpectedly at the age of 69.
The Gutfeld! panelist and comedian, 37, announced the devastating news in an emotional statement, saying her seemingly healthy and strong father died suddenly on May 7.
For Kat, the loss comes after one of the most intense years of her life.
Only last year, she was diagnosed with stage zero breast cancer just hours before giving birth to her first child. She later underwent a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery while adjusting to new motherhood.
Now, as she continues rebuilding physically and emotionally, she is facing a grief she described as unimaginable.
In her tribute, Kat remembered her father as loyal, funny, kind, selfless, hard-working and completely devoted to his children.
He was, she said, her rock and her best friend.
The words that followed captured the depth of her shock.
She wrote that he was the most dependable person anyone could ever meet, the kind of father whose phone number made her feel like no problem was impossible to solve.
“I needed him here with me,” she admitted.
“I am not okay.”
It was a brutally honest line from a woman who has often used humour to survive hardship.
Kat has built much of her public identity around sharp wit, self-deprecation and turning uncomfortable truths into comedy. But this was different. There was no punchline strong enough to soften the loss of the man she relied on most.
She shared that she had last seen her father just days before his death. The goodbye had been quick, ordinary and unsuspecting — the kind of goodbye people give when they fully expect there will be another hello soon.
Her young son had proudly helped his grandfather push his suitcase down to the car before he left.
That small memory now carries unbearable weight.
Kat explained that the family had expected to see Daniel again in June, when they were planning to travel to Texas for her shows and to visit her grandfather.
Instead, everything changed in an instant.
The tragedy is especially painful because Daniel had been such a central figure during Kat’s cancer journey.
After her diagnosis, she said, he was there for her in the way only he could be. Earlier this year, she spoke about how her father began driving from Michigan to New York as soon as he learned she had cancer, and said she could not have made it through that period without him.
That support mattered deeply.
Kat’s breast cancer diagnosis came at a moment that should have been defined only by joy.
She was nine months pregnant and preparing to welcome her first child when doctors told her she had stage zero breast cancer, also known as ductal carcinoma in situ. Fifteen hours later, she went into labour and gave birth to her son.
Life and fear arrived on the same day.
In the weeks that followed, Kat faced medical decisions no new mother ever imagines having to make. She underwent a double mastectomy in March 2025, later sharing the physical and emotional toll of recovery.
She has spoken candidly about how hard it was not to pick up her newborn son while healing from surgery, and how devastating it felt to lose the ability to breastfeed while still trying to bond as a new mother.
By April 2025, she was declared cancer-free.
But recovery did not mean everything suddenly became easy.
Kat has continued to describe the experience as life-changing, not only because of the surgeries, but because of how it forced her to confront fear, gratitude, motherhood and mortality all at once.
Her father was part of the strength that helped hold her together.
Now, his death has left another wound.
In her tribute, Kat also mentioned that her mother, Anne Marie, died in 2014, making the loss of her father even more devastating. She wrote that the past year had been awful, but that she had found joy watching the bond grow between her son and her dad.
That bond, though brief, became one of the brightest lights of a painful year.
She described the relationship between grandfather and grandson as something beautiful, a source of hope amid cancer treatment, surgery and recovery.
Now, she is mourning not only the father she lost, but the future moments her son will never get to have with him.
The response from friends, colleagues and fans was immediate.
Fox News figures including Dana Perino, Carly Shimkus and Guy Benson sent messages of love and shock, while countless followers offered condolences and shared their own stories of grief.
Kat closed her message by asking people to do something kind for someone they know.
She also asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she was treated during her breast cancer journey.
It was a request that reflected both heartbreak and gratitude.
Even in grief, Kat found a way to point people toward kindness.
Her words were raw because the loss is raw.
There was no attempt to make it neat or inspirational. No false certainty about healing. No pretending that strength means being fine.
Instead, Kat said the truest thing she could say.
She is not okay.
And perhaps that is why so many people responded.
Because grief, especially sudden grief, does not arrive politely. It breaks into ordinary life without warning. It turns quick goodbyes into final memories. It leaves people wishing for one more phone call, one more laugh, one more five-minute conversation.
Kat Timpf has already survived a year that asked too much of her.
A cancer diagnosis.
A major surgery.
The physical pain of recovery.
The emotional weight of new motherhood.
And now, the sudden loss of the father who helped carry her through it.
Her tribute was not just a public statement.
It was a daughter reaching for words in the middle of shock.
A mother grieving what her child has lost.
A survivor facing another kind of pain.
And a reminder that behind every familiar face on television is a human being living through love, fear, family and heartbreak just like everyone else.
