{"id":113732,"date":"2026-07-17T08:20:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T08:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=113732"},"modified":"2026-07-17T16:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T16:39:08","slug":"kim-kardashians-grandma-mj-dies-at-91-the-hidden-matriarch-behind-the-kardashian-jenner-empire","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/kim-kardashians-grandma-mj-dies-at-91-the-hidden-matriarch-behind-the-kardashian-jenner-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"Kim Kardashian Pays Tribute to Grandma MJ After She Passes Away at 91 \u2014 “You Were the Woman Who Showed Me What It Meant to Be a Hardworking Businesswoman”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kim Kardashian Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kim Kardashian\u2019s Grandmother \u2018Grandma MJ\u2019 Dies At 91<\/h2>\n

The Kardashian-Jenner family has lost the woman they all quietly orbited around. Mary Jo \u201cMJ\u201d Shannon, Kim Kardashian\u2019s grandmother and Kris Jenner\u2019s mother, died on July 16 at age 91, the family confirmed in emotional posts on Instagram.<\/p>\n

To casual viewers she was the petite, pearl-wearing grandmother who floated through scenes on Keeping Up With The Kardashians<\/i>. To the people inside the Calabasas compound, she was the blueprint. When Kim writes that MJ showed her how to be a \u201chardworking businesswoman,\u201d she is not being metaphorical. She is giving credit where the family\u2019s entire empire arguably began.<\/p>\n

The Woman Who Taught The Kardashians To Hustle<\/h2>\n

From La Jolla Boutique To Billion-Dollar Mindset<\/h3>\n

Long before confessionals and contour sticks, MJ was a young model who pivoted into retail, opening children\u2019s boutique Shannon & Company in La Jolla in 1980. It was the kind of store where the hangers were as considered as the hemlines, and where little Kris and, later, her kids learned that presentation is part of the product.<\/p>\n

Kim calls it her first job and her first lesson in money. \u201cYou gave me my very first job at your store in San Diego,\u201d she wrote, crediting MJ with her work ethic, strength and confidence. If you have ever watched Kim negotiate a seven figure deal in a blazer that fits like a glove, you can trace a line back to a grandmother who believed a woman should know her margins and her tailor.<\/p>\n

Love, Loss And Serious Resilience<\/h3>\n

MJ\u2019s personal life was messier and more modern than her ladylike cardigans suggested. She married three times, including a brief high school union that lasted about two months, a marriage to Kris\u2019s father Robert Houghton, and a nearly 40 year partnership with Harry Shannon until his death in 2003. On camera, she once joked that \u201chistory repeats itself\u201d when comparing her divorces to Kim\u2019s, proof that she understood the family\u2019s headlines and did not flinch.<\/p>\n

She also survived both breast and colon cancer. Kris has said her mother taught her to face challenges with \u201cresilience and faith,\u201d and it tracks: MJ walked through diagnoses, widowhood and reinvention, then still had the energy to show up on set, hair set and lipstick on, to support yet another family venture.<\/p>\n

Inside The Family\u2019s Heartbreaking Tributes<\/h2>\n
<\/blockquote>\n

Kris Jenner\u2019s Heart \u201cBroken Into A Million Pieces\u201d<\/h3>\n

Kris announced her mother\u2019s death with a caption that felt less like a statement and more like a daughter trying to hold herself together. \u201cMy mom was the heart of our family,\u201d Jenner says. She thanked MJ for teaching her to love fiercely, to be kind, to show up and to never take time together for granted, adding that there is not a part of her that is not shaped by her mother.<\/p>\n

Kim\u2019s Goodbye To Her \u201cBest Friend, Gossip Buddy, Forever Twin\u201d<\/h3>\n

Kim\u2019s tribute reads like late night kitchen-table texts made public. \u201cMy sweet Grandma MJ, my best friend, my gossip buddy, my forever twin,\u201d Kardashian says. She remembers MJ as her safe place, the woman who always believed in her, and notes that her love is \u201cwoven into\u201d every member of the family. In classic Kardashian fashion, there is humor threaded through the grief: Kim mentions MJ\u2019s \u201csneaky\u201d finsta, joking that she will still be Instagram-stalking them from heaven.<\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

The Next Generations Remember<\/h3>\n

In her stories, Kylie Jenner shared a throwback video of herself dancing with MJ, the kind of clip that instantly collapses the distance between reality star and normal granddaughter. Between Kourtney, Khlo\u00e9, Rob, Kendall, Kylie and 13 great-grandchildren, the posts form a mosaic: grainy party footage, birthday dinners, MJ in her signature neat blowout and tailored jackets, proof that the so-called matriarch actually did the least flashy thing of all in this family – she showed up, consistently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42690,"featured_media":113735,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[23],"yoast_head":"\nKim Kardashian Pays Tribute to Grandma MJ After She Passes Away at 91 \u2014 "You Were the Woman Who Showed Me What It Meant to Be a Hardworking Businesswoman" - Grazia USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/kim-kardashians-grandma-mj-dies-at-91-the-hidden-matriarch-behind-the-kardashian-jenner-empire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kim Kardashian Pays Tribute to Grandma MJ After She Passes Away at 91 \u2014 "You Were the Woman Who Showed Me What It Meant to Be a Hardworking Businesswoman"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kim Kardashian\u2019s Grandmother \u2018Grandma MJ\u2019 Dies At 91 The Kardashian-Jenner family has lost the woman they all quietly orbited around. 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