HGTV Star Erin Napier Mourns Death of Aunt Mae Mae

Erin Napier is mourning the death of her beloved Aunt Mae Mae. The HGTV Home Town star announced on November 4, 2026, in an Instagram post that her aunt Marilyn, nicknamed Mae Mae, had died earlier that day. Mae Mae worked as a greeter at the Napiers Laurel Mercantile Co. store in Laurel, Mississippi, where visitors knew her as a warm and unforgettable presence. Erin named her younger daughter Mae, now 5, after her aunt, a sign of how deeply Mae Mae shaped her life.

Erin Napier Announces the Loss on Instagram

Erin Napier shared the news herself on Wednesday, November 4, in an Instagram post that mixed grief with gratitude. She wrote that her very special aunt had passed away earlier that day, and she described Mae Mae as a woman whose gift was loving people. If visitors met her while she worked as a greeter at the family stores, Erin said, they did not forget her. She loved meeting people and talking to them, and that warmth was the first thing most customers noticed.

Erin added that her aunt worked in retail her entire life and could teach a master class in service. Laurel Mercantile Co. is not just a shop to the Napiers. It is a place where the welcome matters as much as what is on the shelves, and Mae Mae was the person who set that tone at the door.

The post drew a flood of condolences from fans and fellow HGTV viewers. One person wrote that Mae Mae was a hoot and a half and that the staff loved her. Another said they had met her at the Mercantile seven years earlier and still talked about her. The comments show a woman who turned a simple job at the door of a store into something people carried with them for years.

A Childhood Shaped by Mae Mae

Erin post was not only an announcement. It was also a tribute to a woman who helped raise her. She recalled that when she was very young and her mother worked part time as a realtor, Mae Mae looked after her on the days her mother had to work. The two spent long hours together on the hill where four generations of the family have lived, walking trails through the woods, collecting leaves and gluing them into scrapbooks.

Mae Mae taught Erin about the presidents and helped her draw them for the scrapbook. She showed her the John Wayne movies she needed to know, sang her Elvis songs and told her about Jesus. Erin wrote that her aunt saw her creative gifts early and knew exactly how to nurture them, helping raise a professional artist without even realizing it. It is a portrait of a childhood shaped by patience, attention and time spent together, the kind of influence that is easy to miss until you look back on it as an adult.

The small details in Erin tribute are the ones that stayed with readers. She said she could still hear her aunt goose like laugh in her memory. For the rest of her life, she wrote, she would smell Ivory soap and remember the way Mae Mae bathed her in a cast iron sink and fed her little ice cream cones with marshmallows and strawberry jam hidden in the bottom. These are the details of someone who was part of daily life, and they explain why the loss has hit Erin so hard.

The Greeter Who Became the Face of Laurel Mercantile

For many visitors to Laurel, Mae Mae was the first person they met. As a greeter at Laurel Mercantile Co., she welcomed shoppers, talked with them about the town and the store, and often walked them out to their cars after they made a purchase. Fans who commented on Erin post described a woman who made a point of showing customers a chapter of the Napiers book and talking with them for several minutes, even when she did not need to.

That kind of welcome is hard to teach, and Erin said her aunt could have taught a master class in it. Mae Mae worked in retail her entire life, and she brought all of that experience to the Mercantile. The store is one of the best known stops for Home Town fans who travel to Laurel, and Mae Mae helped make it feel like a visit to a friend rather than a trip to a shop. Her pride in Erin and Ben was obvious to everyone who met her.

The role also connected Mae Mae to the wider story of Laurel itself. Home Town is built on the idea that small town America is worth celebrating, and the Mercantile is the physical heart of that idea in Laurel. Mae Mae stood at its door, which made her part of the show in a real and everyday way, even though she was never a cast member. For readers who enjoy the slower side of home life, our guide on how to start a vegetable garden captures some of the same small town spirit.

Why Daughter Mae Carries Her Name

Erin and Ben Napier share two daughters, Helen and Mae. Mae, their younger daughter, is now 5 years old, and Erin said in her tribute that she knew she would name her last baby girl after her aunt. The name was chosen long before Mae was born, a promise Erin made to herself when she thought about the woman who had shaped her childhood.

Naming a child after a loved one is a common way to keep a memory alive, but it carries extra weight here. Mae will grow up hearing stories about the aunt she was named for, and the name will keep Mae Mae present in the family long after her death. Erin closed her post by saying she hoped her aunt got to meet Elvis that day, a gentle line that tied back to the Elvis songs Mae Mae used to sing to her as a child.

The family has always kept its daughters close to the center of its public life, but on its own terms. Erin and Ben married in 2008, and they have built their television careers around their home town and their family. The decision to name Mae after her great aunt shows how the couple weaves family history into everyday life. It also means that the tribute Erin wrote is not only about the past. It is about a name that will be spoken in the family every day for years to come.

Loss Arrives Days After a Daytime Emmy Win

The death comes at a moment of sharp contrast for the Napier family. Less than a week before the announcement, Erin and Ben won a 2026 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Instructional and How To Program for Season 3 of Home Town Takeover. The winning show was Home Town Takeover: Sebring, and Erin announced the win on Instagram on Saturday, October 31. She wrote that the couple had not attended the ceremony because they were filming in Laurel and did not want to miss one of the few times their daughters would go trick or treating in their short childhoods.

Erin praised the team behind Takeover in that post, saying they had worked through challenges and personal loss but had built a show culture that felt rare, like a family. She added that Takeover stood on the shoulders of the original Laurel Home Town team. The win was a proud moment for both teams, and it arrived just days before the family loss that has now overshadowed it.

The couple continues to film Home Town Season 11 in Laurel, and the loss comes in the middle of that work. Filming a television show while grieving a family member is difficult, and the Napiers have not said whether the schedule will change. For now, fans have responded with support rather than questions about the show. The entertainment world has seen its share of difficult family stories this year, and the response to Erin post shows how many viewers feel connected to the family. For more on another celebrity family story, read about Dolly Parton manager dismissing a lawsuit involving her nephew Bryan Seaver. Readers curious about the business side of reality television fame can also read about Chelsea DeBoer net worth and her business career.

Who was Aunt Mae Mae to Erin Napier?

Aunt Mae Mae was Erin Napier aunt Marilyn, a lifelong retail worker who served as a greeter at the Napiers Laurel Mercantile Co. store in Laurel, Mississippi. She looked after Erin as a child, helped nurture her creative gifts and became a beloved figure to store visitors. Erin named her younger daughter Mae after her.

When did Aunt Mae Mae die?

Mae Mae died on November 4, 2026. Erin Napier announced the death later that day in an Instagram post, writing that her very special aunt had passed away earlier that day.

What did Erin Napier say about her aunt?

Erin wrote that her aunt gift was loving people and that she could teach a master class in service after a lifetime in retail. She recalled childhood walks in the woods, scrapbooks, John Wayne movies, Elvis songs and her aunt goose like laugh. She said she would always associate Mae Mae with the smell of Ivory soap.

Did Erin and Ben Napier recently win an award?

Yes. Less than a week before the death, they won a 2026 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Instructional and How To Program for Season 3 of Home Town Takeover, for Home Town Takeover: Sebring. Erin announced the win on October 31 and said they skipped the ceremony to keep filming in Laurel and not miss their daughters trick or treating.

Sources

USA Today: HGTV star announces death of very special family member

TV Insider: HGTV star Erin Napier announces devastating family loss

Final Thoughts

Aunt Mae Mae was never a television star, but her death has touched thousands of people who never met her. Her story is familiar to anyone who had a relative who shaped their childhood with patience, humor and time. She walked Erin through the woods, taught her about presidents and Elvis, and welcomed strangers at the door of a store as if they were friends. Erin named her daughter after her, so the name Mae will keep her memory alive in the family for years to come. The Emmy win days earlier shows how quickly joy and grief can sit side by side in one family.