Mick Foley shared heartbreaking news with fans earlier today, announcing the passing of his mother following a long and difficult battle with dementia.
The WWE Hall of Famer took to Facebook to post an emotional and deeply personal tribute, honoring the woman who played a defining role in his life. In the message, Foley explained that deciding to make the news public was not an easy choice, given his mother’s lifelong desire for privacy.
“Goodbye, Mom! It is with a heavy heart that I share the news of my mother’s passing, following a long battle with dementia,” Foley wrote. “My mother was an intensely private person – so much so that I pleaded with WWE not to show her in the crowd at a 1997 MSG show – and I have struggled in trying to decide whether I should make her passing public. Her will specified there would be no visitation, no funeral, not even an obituary – but in the end, we as a family felt it would be good for all of us if there was a tribute of some kind to a remarkable woman.”
Foley went on to detail the challenges his mother faced throughout her life, beginning with her birth on a farm in Western New York in 1938. Growing up in the shadow of the Great Depression, she developed a deep respect for hard work and frugality—qualities Foley credited as the foundation of the famously “thrifty” household he was raised in. He reflected on childhood memories such as a home kept at 56 degrees during winter and living in a “64 square-foot room,” underscoring the discipline and resilience she instilled in her children.
One of the most striking revelations in Foley’s tribute was the discovery that his mother had quietly battled polio earlier in life—a struggle he only learned about years later.
According to Foley, it wasn’t until she showed him a keepsake box filled with yellowed newspaper clippings that he realized she had endured months fighting the illness. In a line that blended tenderness with his trademark wrestling-style flair, Foley described her triumph: “My mother stomped a mudhole in polio’s @*s and walked it dry and grew into a strong, independent woman who became the first member of her family to attend college.”
Foley closed his tribute with a deeply moving farewell that resonated with fans around the world. “Goodbye Mom. I love you very much and will always be proud to be Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy.”
PWMania extends its sincere condolences to Mick Foley and his family during this difficult time.
