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James Van Der Beek Says Cancer Was "Best Thing That Ever Happened" to Him in Health Update
James Van Der Beek spent his last months surrounded by love.
The Dawson's Creek alum died Feb. 11 after battling colorectal cancer. He was 48.
Less than two months before his death, James' wife of 15 years Kimberly Van Der Beek posted a sweet photo of the couple enjoying the holiday season on their Texas ranch.
Kimberly captioned the image, which showed James clad in a dark green cardigan and brown jeans as he wrapped his arm around her, "Me and my bae."
The couple—who married in 2010—shared kids Olivia, 15, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 9, Gwendolyn, 7, and Jeremiah, 4.
In the wake of James' passing, Kimberly posted a family statement praising him as a "loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend."
"He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace," read a Feb. 11 post shared to her Instagram. "There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come."
James was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, which originates in the colon or rectum, in 2023 and spoke out about his condition the following year after privately undergoing treatment. At the time, he said he was "taking steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family."
“There’s reason for optimism," he told People, "and I’m feeling good."
Kimberly Van Der Beek/Instagram
And throughout his cancer journey, James continued to keep his head up.
"As soon as I heard the news, I thought, 'This is going to be the best thing that ever happened to me,'" James recalled of his diagnosis during a December appearance on Today. "I had this
little voice in my head that said, 'You're going to make changes in your life that you would never, ever make if you didn't have this extreme of a diagnosis.'"
He added, "Really, the biggest change would be this journey of self-love. What I realized was, I'm still worthy of love."
To look back at James' extraordinary life in photos, keep reading.
New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection
1995
Angus
Lisa Rose/ZUMA Wire
1997
Frank Ockenfels/Warner Bros Tv/Kobal
1998
Dawson's Creek
Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
1998
Margaret Norton/NBCU Photo Bank
1998
Marc Kayne/Warner Bros Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock
1998
E J Camp/Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock
1999
Varsity Blues
Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
1999
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc
2000
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
2001
Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage
2002
Jim Spellman/WireImage
2002
Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic
2003
J.Sciulli/WireImage
2004
Cliff Lipson/CBS via Getty Images
2005
Jim Smeal/BEI/Shutterstock
2006
Noel Vasquez/Getty Images
2008
Picture Perfect/Shutterstock
2009
Peter Kramer/NBC NewsWire/NBCU Photo Bank
2010
Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
2011
20th Century Fox Television/Kobal/Shutterstock
2012
Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23
Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
2013
Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
2014
Michael Yarish/CBS via Getty Images
2015
CSI: Cyber
Todd Williamson/Getty Images for Amazon Studios
2016
Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank
2017
2018
Todd Williamson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
2019
Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images
2019
Dancing With the Stars
2020
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