VH1
Glenda Leverette Walker is the mother to Charmaine Walker, owner of 2nd City Ink and star of VH1 reality show Black Ink Crew: Chicago, who recently passed away. Glenda appeared just last week on the Black Ink Crew: Chicago season six premiere when Charmaine and her fiance Nick Bey started to share their wedding plans with their moms.
This week on the show, Charmaine is going to tell the 2nd City crew that she is pregnant, which means she lost her mom just as she was starting her life with Nick and their unborn child. The two recently revealed to PEOPLE that they got married on the sly, just after announcing their pregnancy. Charmaine is due March 2020.
Glenda passed away Oct. 23 in Slidell, La., at the age of 62. She was born and raised in Chicago, then later attended Grambling State University in Grambling, La., where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication. Glenda married Michael Walker in 1988 and in 1990 they welcomed daughter Charmaine. Glenda went on to be a school teacher in the St. Tammany Parish Public School District, according to her obituary in the Times-Picayune.
The obituary does not say what Glenda’s cause of death was, but on an episode of the show last season, Glenda revealed to Charmaine that her hypertension medication had been affecting her kidneys.
“All the years of being on hypertension medication, it has affected my kidneys. I’m in stage 4 of renal failure. … When you get to that fifth stage, they have to put you on dialysis,” said Glenda at the time, adding, “There’s no reversing my situation. None. So it’s about moving forward.”
Charmaine couldn’t believe her mom’s positive attitude and cried as she told her mom that she didn’t want anything to happen to her.
In an Instagram tribute to her mother, Charmaine writes, “Words can’t express how I feel. I love you mommy and this is going to be hard to move on from. I assume it will get better over time. You were the most loving woman on this planet and I hope to treat people with the same kindness that you always did. My best friend, my mom. You’re my everything and I’m honored to be your daughter. The hardest part will be going through life without you by my side. I still have so much to share with you. I’m trying to stay positive but some moments are really hard. Thanks for being my number 1 fan since the day I was born. My diva mom, I love you.”
Charmaine also mentioned her mother in the Instagram post announcing her pregnancy, writing, “The night before she unexpectedly passed away she said ‘I still can’t believe my baby is having a baby!’ I’ll never forget those words. This has been an emotional roller coaster but I’m blessed to be bringing life into this world.”
And Bey recently posted a photo to Instagram of his mother and Glenda together, writing that his baby has “the best grandmas in the world. Thank you for being our guardian angel, mama Glenda.”
VH1 also posted a tribute video to Glenda after her passing, showcasing all of her best moments on Black Ink Crew: Chicago over its first five seasons.
Glenda’s death will be featured on the sixth season of Black Ink Crew: Chicago. The trailer released right before the season premiere shows Charmaine getting a call from her father to tell her the bad news, then it showed footage from her mom’s funeral, which many of the Black Ink Crew stars attended.
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‘Black Ink Crew: Chicago’: Charmaine Walker’s Mother Glenda Died Unexpectedly