The Tragic Reason Hallmark’s Ashley Williams & Nikki DeLoach Support The ALZ Association

Through their advocacy for Alzheimer’s treatment and research, Hallmark BFFs Ashley Williams and Nikki DeLoach have opened up about their individual experiences with the illness. Both actors had a parent who suffered from the disease, with DeLoach’s father being diagnosed with dementia around the same time Williams’ mother died from Alzheimer’s disease.

“Dad was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of dementia called Pick’s disease (commonly referred to as frontotemporal dementia). It affects the brain’s frontal or temporal lobes,” DeLoach told Guideposts. Her father, David DeLoach, died in 2021 at the age of 66, with the Georgia native posting a moving Instagram tribute to him shortly after. As the Hallmark star wrote, “My heart is shattered. The hurt is so deep and big that it just burns. And at the same time, I rejoice that you are no longer suffering.”

Williams has similarly opened up about her own experience with Alzheimer’s, as her mother, Linda Payne Williams, suffered from a form of dementia known as primary progressive aphasia before passing away in 2016. “My mom was diagnosed with dementia in 2005 and she ordered us to not speak of it because she was embarrassed,” she told Southern Living. “Now it turned out my mom died of Alzheimer’s disease, which is very hard to diagnose when they’re alive.”