Culture

Family Expected Bernie Mac to Recover

by Jarrett Martineau | August 11, 2008 at 12:43 pm

341 views | 7 Recommendations | 2 comments

The family of renowned American comedian Bernie Mac, who died Saturday from pneumonia at the age of 50, had expected that he would recover from the illness that had hospitalized him since the middle of July.

Comedian Bernie Mac's family had expected him to fully recover from the bout of pneumonia that put him in a hospital three weeks ago, his daughter said Sunday.
However, Je'niece Childress said that as time passed she and her mother braced for the possibility that he could die.

Mac, 50, died Saturday from what his publicist said were complications from pneumonia.

Childress said Mac had been at Northwestern Memorial Hospital since the middle of July.

"Initially when he was hospitalized we expected him to come back home, but as the weeks went on, I kind of knew," Childress told The Associated Press.

Mac also suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease, but he had said the condition went into remission in 2005. His publicist, Danica Smith, has said the pneumonia was unrelated to the sarcoidosis.

A public memorial for Bernie Mac will be held in Chicago on Saturday:

Fans and friends of Chicago comedian Bernie Mac, who died Saturday, are invited to a public memorial celebrating Mac's life.

Services are scheduled for noon Saturday in the 10,000-seat House of Hope, 752 E. 114th St., Chicago, said Danica Smith, Mac's publicist. Donations in Mac's honor may be sent to the Bernie Mac Foundation for Sarcoidosis, 40 E. 9th St., Suite 601, Chicago, IL 60605, Smith said.