James Van Der Beek's Wife Kimberly Shares Father's Day Tribute
James Van Der Beek’s Wife Kimberly Says He Parents “From the Other Side”
James Van Der Beek's family is feeling his love from afar.
Four months after the Dawson's Creek alum died at 48, his wife Kimberly Van Der Beek shared a touching tribute to the late star on the first Father's Day since his death.
"Missing you so much and thinking of how magnificent you were in every single way today," she wrote in a June 21 Instagram post. "And somehow, from the other side? You continue to parent. You're a marvel."
In her post, Kimberly—who welcomed kids Olivia, 15, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 9, Gwendolyn, 7, and Jeremiah, 4, during her marriage to James—shared a carousel of sweet family photos of the Varsity Blues actor with his children from over the years.
Since James' death in February after a nearly three-year battle with colorectal cancer, Kimberly continues to be open about the family's grief journey, including how they're keeping the Elle star's memory alive.
In fact, the couple's daughter Emilia shared that she speaks with her father every day.
“The number one thing for somebody's passing is to talk to them and let your emotions out,” Emilia said in a video shared to Kimberly’s Instagram page March 8. “If you miss them, you can cry. You can talk to them. I talk to my dad every day, and I start with a sentence, and I say, ‘Hi Dad, I miss you, and I love you so much, and I'll never stop loving you.’ And I just tell him about my day, how I'm feeling, and I tell my family how I'm feeling.”
She continued, “I know he can hear me, but I can't hear him. My mom can. And you just you have to feel them in your heart, because they're in your heart. They're watching. They're a part of your body and in a good place."
And Kimberly and the Van Der Beek family made sure to celebrate James on what would have been his 49th birthday on March 8.
“Would be your 49th birthday today,” Kimberly wrote over a picture of her and James on Instagram Stories at the time. “And I’m missing you tremendously.”
Instagram/Kimberly Van Der Beek
Prior to his death, James—who went public with his colorectal cancer diagnosis in 2024—reflected on his fatherhood journey, sharing that it's what made him the "happiest" in his life.
"What you genuinely want is to take care of them, to make them feel safe, to keep them safe, to connect with them and feel that joy," he told Good Morning America in 2023. "Your life becomes shared and your joys become shared joys, and in a really beautiful way, that expands your level of circuitry out to other people instead of just keeping it all for your own gratification."
Read on for a look back at James' sweet moments with Kimberly and their kids.
Instagram/James Van Der Beek
James Van Der Beek, Kimberly Van Der Beek, and Kids
Olivia, Joshua, Annabel, Emilia, Gwendolyn, and Jeremiah
As parents to six kids together, James often championed his wife as the glue that kept their bond strong.
“I am in awe of you: As a mother, a friend, a medicine woman, a healer, a conscious, caring superhuman on this planet,” James, who died after a yearslong cancer battle in February 2026, captioned the March 2024 Instagram post. “And as a wife? I would not be half the man I am without you.”
Instagram/James Van Der Beek
James Van Der Beek & Kimberly Van Der Beek
Throughout James’ health battle, he emphasized what it meant to have her by his side.
“I’d like to say I chose my Valentine wisely,” the Dawson’s Creek star wrote on the February 2025 Instagram post. “But I didn’t have any choice - I was a goner from the moment you interrupted me mid-sentence telling a friend I was ready to meet the real deal."
Instagram/James Van Der Beek
James Van Der Beek & Olivia Van Der Beek
James and his oldest child Olivia had an indescribable bond.
“You expanded my heart and my soul’s capacity the second you came out in ways I could’ve never imagined,” he captioned the September 2023 social media post. “You taught me what love was in an instant. And you’ve led the way ever since.”
Instagram/James Van Der Beek
James Van Der Beek & Emilia Van Der Beek
The best part about having six kids is seeing them come into their own. And James always credited his daughter Emilia for her mighty spirit.
“I consider all my children my teachers, but you I’ve always considered an authority,” he wrote in the March 2025 Instagram post. “ Whether you’re ushering us all out the door on time, helping put your little brother to bed, or telling me where you think I went wrong… when you speak, I listen.”
Instagram/James Van Der Beek
Halloween with the Van Der Beeks
As the couple’s kids all opted for separate costumes, Halloween 2025 was a boo-tiful family moment.
Instagram/James Van Der Beek
James Van Der Beek & Jeremiah Van Der Beek
After two late-term pregnancy losses, Jeremiah. Whom he and Kimberly welcomed in 2021, was the couple’s “rainbow baby.”
“An iron will combined with an innate sweetness,” James wrote in the October 2025 social media post. “And ALL boy. And as you run around and scream and bang things… all I can think about is how grateful I am that you came to us.”
Instagram/James Van Der Beek
James Van Der Beek & Joshua Van Der Beek
For Joshua’s 13th birthday, James reflected on the kind of person his not-so-little guy has made him today.
“No one has taught me more about the kind of man I want to be more than you,” he wrote on the March 2025 Instagram post. “Your questions are my guideposts. Your opinions my mirror. And your sense of humor fills me with endless delight.”
Instagram/James Van Der Beek
James Van Der Beek & Annabel Van Der Beek
Alongside one of James’ last public photos shared with his kids, the Dawson’s Creek alum opened up about his daughter’s resilience.
As he shared in the January 2026 Instagram post, “In this crazy world, it’s a wonder to me that you’ve managed to stay so open, so tender, and so genuinely good.”
Instagram/James Van Der Beek
James Van Der Beek & Gwendolyn Van Der Beek
For her seventh birthday, James gushed over how proud he is of his little girl.
“Before you dropped into this life, you filled your cart to the max with sweetness, sass…,” he captioned the June 2025 Instagram post, “and I think you just might be a low-key genius. You can bring a roomful of adults to genuine, uproarious laughter, and witnessing you care for and nurture younger kids is enough to restore anyone’s faith in humanity.”
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