Here's Everything You Need to Know about Late Grandma Mary's Husband, Jimmy Lee Duggar

The Duggar family lost their matriarch, Mary Duggar, and patriarch Jimmy Lee 10 years apart. Since then, the family had openly spoken about the way their outlook on life influenced the now famous family.

Jimmy Lee Duggar, better known as J.L., died at the age of 73 on February 9, 2009, from cancer, followed by Mary ten years later on June 9, 2019.

After a life of almost 50 years together, they had built a close-knit family with solid Christian roots. Mary and Jimmy got married in 1960 and had two children, Jim Bob and Deanna.

While Jimmy Lee grew up attending Calvary Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Mary became a devout Christian at age 15. “It was at that time she committed the rest of her life to live for Him, a commitment she kept with devotion,” her granddaughters, Lily and Ellie wrote on the day of her passing.

According to Jimmy’s obituary, he lived by the Proverbs 17:20 verse, “A joyful heart is like good medicine,” and could let anyone forget about their problems.

In 1962, Jimmy Lee became a third generation real estate agent when he joined Duggar Realty, which his grandfather, J.T. Duggar established in 1933. “He loved buying and selling property, cars, and making "big" trades. He was an incredible salesman,” his obituary stated. Mary worked in the same industry and founded Good Neighbor Realty as a successful real estate broker.

On July 10, 2019, one of the grandchildren shared a story Mary loved to tell the family. When Mary went into labor with the first of her two children, Jimmy got nervous as they were about to go to the hospital. Finally, his anxiousness got the better of him, and he said, “Mary, come on! We’ve gotta go! Mary, if you don’t hurry up, I’m gonna leave without you!”

The grandchildren referred to them as a “hoot” and told of Jimmy Lee’s ability to make others laugh. “He delighted in spending time with his family traveling and doing things together. He was a fun Grandpa. Few people enjoyed life as much as he did,” they added in his obituary.

The grandchildren also learned valuable life lessons from their grandmother as they said on the family blog:

“My grandma taught me to thank God in every situation, realizing that only He can see the big picture. She would say, “Praise the Lord” all the time, and even talked about how thanking God for tough things that happened helped her release it to Him and acknowledge that he was ultimately in control.”

Through Mary and Jimmy Lee, the Duggars learned the importance of living life close to their maker and making the most of every day.

While the religious reality family got known for their strict rules regarding relationships, netizens criticized their beliefs and accused the Duggars of “only having sex for the purpose of making babies.”

It is said that they don’t believe in birth control, which led to the family growing to “19 kids and counting.”