Chris Anne Affleck, mother of Ben and Casey, dies at 83

Chris Anne Affleck, the mother of actors Ben and Casey Affleck, died on June 2 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 83. Her family announced her death in an obituary published on July 23, 2026.

Affleck, a retired public school teacher, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2025 and was told she had approximately six months to live. Following the diagnosis, her family said her greatest wish was to survive long enough to see her grandson graduate from high school. She attended the graduation ceremony with her family on May 31 and died peacefully in her sleep two days later.

Born Christine Anne Boldt in New York City in December 1942, she attended Radcliffe College and was among the first women to receive a Harvard University diploma. She later earned a master's degree from Harvard. Despite her elite education, her family said she maintained a strong commitment to social justice and civil rights throughout her life. During the 1960s, she traveled to Mississippi to teach literacy classes as part of the Freedom Summer campaign and participated in demonstrations against the Vietnam War.

Rather than pursue a more lucrative career, she became a public school teacher,...