Susan Saint James’ 14-year-old son died in a plane crash – now her selfless act in her darkest days comes to light
Losing a child is a kind of heartbreak no parent should ever have to face.
For Susan Saint James, that nightmare became reality in 2004, when her youngest son, Teddy, was killed in a devastating plane crash.
The grief that followed was unimaginable. But now, after the actress’ death at 79, her children are remembering something their mother did in the weeks after losing Teddy.
Susan Saint James cause of death
Susan Saint James may have been best known to television audiences as the beloved star of Kate & Allie, but to the people closest to her, she was first and foremost a wife, a mother and someone who always seemed to put others before herself.
The Emmy-winning actress died on October 26 at the age of 80 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She leaves behind her husband, Dick Ebersol, four children and seven grandchildren.
But what some fans may not know is that behind Saint James’ warmth and laughter was a heartbreaking loss that changed her family forever.
In November 2004, Saint James’ youngest son, Teddy, was just 14 when a private plane carrying him, his father Dick Ebersol and his older brother Charles crashed during takeoff in Colorado.
The family had been heading to Indiana to drop Charles off at Notre Dame University. From there, Dick and Teddy were supposed to continue on to the East Coast.
But they never made it that far.
Pulled his father from the wreckage
The charter jet briefly lifted off the runway at Montrose Airport before beginning to tip from side to side. It then crashed and burst into flames.
“The pilots tried to straighten up, and tipped to the left and to the right. The pilots saw the front just get compress like that, and then they ended up outside. They were on in the snow,” Charles later recalled, according to AP.
Federal investigators determined that the plane had not been de-iced before takeoff. A storm had recently moved through the area, and light snow and fog were present when the aircraft attempted to take off.
Dick suffered a cracked sternum in the crash, making it difficult for him to breathe and even sob. He also remembered very little about what happened.
Charles, meanwhile, was credited with pulling his father from the wreckage before rescue crews and others arrived to help. But despite his actions, he never considered himself a hero — because he could not save his little brother.
Saint James later recalled the heartbreaking phone call Charles made to her.
“Mom, there’s been a crash. You’ve got to come back and help me look for Teddy.”
Teddy and two crew members were killed in the crash. Dick and Charles survived, but both suffered serious injuries — leaving the family to face a loss that would stay with them for the rest of their lives.
What she did after Teddy died
For any parent, the loss was unimaginable. Yet in the weeks that followed, Saint James found a way to put her own devastating grief aside and be there for the people who needed her most.
Saint James later described Teddy as being like her best friend. She also recalled reading an autobiography he had written for school, which gave the family a glimpse into a side of him they had never fully known.
“We read it and found out things we didn’t know about Teddy, and how much we meant to him as a family.”
She also spoke openly about the unbearable pain of losing a child.
“You know the saying you’re never supposed to bury a child. To lose one and not another, you have to sob your brains out.”
At Teddy’s funeral, she delivered his eulogy not simply as a farewell to her son, but as a personal message to each of her surviving children and to her husband, offering them words of comfort and strength when the family was at its lowest point.
Her children later described it as her defining act.
“Even in the deepest grief of her life, she put everyone else first,” the family recalled.
That instinct to care for others did not end there.
Just days after the crash, Saint James sat down with family friend and journalist Tim Russert to thank the people who had reached out to the family and reassure them that they were getting through the tragedy.
And for years afterward, she continued helping other parents who had experienced the unimaginable pain of losing a child.
After everything this wonderful actress endured, one can only hope Susan Saint James is finally reunited with her beloved son Teddy now. Rip, Susan!