Sister Wives spoiler: Kody Brown feels Janelle Brown’s mother’s funeral is ‘more important than Christmas’

During an episode of Sister Wives, Janelle Brown’s mother Sheryl passed away, and Kody Brown traveled solo to Wyoming to attend her funeral just weeks before Christmas.

Season 16 of Sister Wives has focused mainly on Kody Brown’s strict pandemic rules for his family.

Sister Wives’ Janelle Brown’s mother Sheryl passes away shortly before Christmas

An upcoming episode will show Janelle Brown sharing a self-recorded video the morning after she lost her mom, Sheryl, to cancer.

“So, my mom passed away last night,” Janelle told cameras as she recorded the video from her cell phone outside in cold, snowy Wyoming.

“Um, we’re back at her house in Wyoming, and it’s just weird that she’s not coming back through the door ever. I’m sort of stunned, and I’m sort of at a loss,” Janelle added as her voice cracked and she fought back the tears.

Janelle then explained her mom’s cancer journey during a confessional.

“My mom was diagnosed with cancer, and there just was really no good way to operate. I was trying to make arrangements to bring her back down to me so that I could take care of her, but she just, at that point, was too sick. She couldn’t travel,” Janelle explained.

Last year, Janelle explained on Instagram that her mother Sheryl passed away on her birthday, December 7, which also happens to be her and Kody’s daughter Savanah’s birthday.

Janelle then explained that her mother’s health went “completely downhill,” so she rushed from Arizona to Wyoming to be by her mother’s side and was able to spend her last hours with her.

Janelle’s mom Sheryl had a unique relationship within her marriage to Kody. As previously reported by Monsters & Critics, Janelle’s mother Sheryl was married to Kody Brown’s father, William Brown, making her Kody’s mother-in-law and Kody’s mom’s sister wife. Interestingly, Kody’s mom shared the same name as his second wife, although she spelled her name Genielle.

Kody Brown explained that he traveled solo to Wyoming for Sheryl’s funeral, as he didn’t want his other wives, Meri and Robyn, to risk exposure to the coronavirus.

Kody Brown says Sheryl’s funeral is ‘more important than Christmas’

“Grandma Sheryl has passed away, and I’m headed to her funeral,” Kody told cameras from his car.

It had been about nine months since Kody last saw his mother-in-law Sheryl and explained that her funeral was just a week before Christmas when the Browns planned on getting together as one family for the first time in months due to Kody’s strict social distancing rules.

Kody feared that bringing along his other wives would jeopardize their health.

“I’ve asked Robyn and Meri to not go to the funeral. I just don’t want them getting exposure to the virus,” Kody said from his car.

Kody then said, “Robyn is the wife that I can communicate with and say, ‘Hey, I don’t think you should go,’ and she’s like, ‘Okay, I won’t.'”

Despite the potential exposure to the virus by attending the funeral, Kody admitted, “The funeral, however, is more important in this case, I feel, than Christmas.”

Sister Wives airs on Sundays at 10/9c on TLC and Discovery+.