It’s been over a decade since the Kardashian-adjacent universe shifted for Scott Disick. Most fans remember the heavy episodes of Keeping Up With the Kardashians where Scott seemed to be spiraling, but the actual timeline of his family loss is often blurred by the way reality TV edits grief. If you’ve ever wondered how Scott Disick's dad passed away, the answer isn't a scandalous headline or a sudden accident. It was a quiet, painful decline that fundamentally broke the man we knew as "The Lord."
Jeffrey Disick was a real estate developer. He wasn't a public figure by choice, but he became one by proxy.
He died on January 3, 2014.
He was only 63 years old. For anyone who has lost a parent prematurely, you know that 63 is far too young—it's that age where you're supposed to be transitioning into the "fun grandpa" phase, not checking into a hospital for the last time.
The Medical Reality Behind the Loss
The official cause of death for Jeffrey Disick remained somewhat private for a while, but it was eventually confirmed that he suffered from significant health complications. Specifically, it was a battle with cancer.
The family never went into grueling detail about the specific type of oncology struggle he faced, likely out of respect for Jeffrey’s more private nature compared to the Kardashian machine. However, reports surfaced that he had been ailing for some time. He passed away in a hospital in Los Angeles, just a few months after his wife—Scott’s mother—died.
Think about that for a second.
Scott Disick is an only child. In the span of less than three months, his entire immediate foundation was wiped off the map. When people wonder why Scott had such a public struggle with substance abuse and emotional regulation in the years following 2014, they often skip over the sheer mathematical cruelty of that timeline.
How Scott Disick's Dad Passed Away: A Double Tragedy
You can’t talk about Jeffrey without talking about Bonnie Disick. Scott’s mother, Bonnie, passed away in late October 2013 after a "long illness." She was also 63.
The speed of it was dizzying.
One moment, Scott has two parents who, while living a relatively quiet life in New York, were his anchors. The next, he is the last Disick standing. Jeffrey's death in January 2014 was the second half of a "one-two punch" that would have leveled anyone, let alone someone already struggling with the pressures of international fame and a complicated relationship with Kourtney Kardashian.
The Impact on the Kardashian Timeline
When we look back at the footage from KUWTK, Scott’s demeanor changed almost instantly. He became withdrawn. He stopped wanting to be in the house. He started traveling more.
Grief is weird.
For Scott, it looked like avoidance. He famously struggled to even enter his childhood home in the Hamptons to clean it out. The house represented a life that was gone. Jeffrey wasn't just his dad; he was the person Scott looked up to regarding how to be a man, despite their differences in lifestyle.
Jeffrey was known for being a bit more low-key. He was a developer who worked hard, and while the family had wealth, they weren't "Kardashian wealthy" until the show took off. The loss of that grounded, New York perspective left Scott drifting in the shallow waters of Calabasas without a rudder.
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Why the "Only Child" Factor Matters
If Scott had siblings, maybe the burden would have been shared. He didn't.
When Jeffrey Disick died, there was no one for Scott to call who truly understood what it was like to grow up in their household. There was no sister to split the estate with, no brother to grab a beer with and talk about "remember when Dad did this?"
It was just him.
This isolation is a massive part of the story regarding how Scott Disick's dad passed away. It wasn't just a death; it was the extinction of his nuclear family. It’s why he clings so tightly to the Kardashians, even when he and Kourtney are at odds. They are the only family he has left, by choice and by history.
Misconceptions and Rumors
Because Scott has been open about his struggles with alcohol, some internet rumors falsely suggested that his father’s death was related to similar lifestyle choices. There is zero evidence for this. Jeffrey's passing was a medical tragedy, not a lifestyle one.
He was sick. He was grieving his wife. He was 63.
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The body sometimes gives up when the heart is heavy, and losing your partner of several decades—as Jeffrey lost Bonnie—takes a physical toll that modern medicine struggles to quantify.
Navigating the Aftermath
In the years since 2014, Scott has occasionally spoken about his parents on Flip It Like Disick and the various Kardashian spin-offs. You can see the flicker of pain whenever their names come up. He once mentioned on camera that "it’s not easy" not having them around to see his kids grow up.
Mason, Penelope, and Reign were very young or not yet born when their grandparents passed. Jeffrey never got to see Scott become the more stable, "dad-mode" version of himself that we see today.
What This Teaches Us About Grief
The story of Jeffrey Disick is a reminder that celebrity doesn't insulate you from the visceral reality of being an orphan. It doesn't matter how many private jets you take; when you’re standing in a hospital room saying goodbye to the man who raised you, you’re just a son.
Scott’s trajectory after his father’s death—the partying, the rehab stints, the eventually finding a weird sort of peace—is a textbook example of "complicated grief."
- Year 1: Total denial and avoidance.
- Year 3: The realization that the loss is permanent.
- Year 10: Integrating that loss into a new identity.
Honestly, it's a miracle he stayed as functional as he did. Most people would have checked out entirely.
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Moving Forward
If you are looking for lessons in how Scott Disick's dad passed away, it's really about the importance of legacy and the fragility of the "parental buffer." Once your parents are gone, you move to the front of the line. Scott was thrust to the front of that line in his early 30s.
For those watching Scott today, his obsession with being a "good dad" is clearly a tribute to Jeffrey. He’s trying to provide the stability he lost so abruptly in 2014.
Takeaways for dealing with sudden or back-to-back family loss:
- Acknowledge the Trauma: Losing both parents within months is a specific type of trauma that requires professional support, not just "time."
- Avoidance is a Symptom: Like Scott, many people try to run from the physical spaces where their parents lived. It’s okay to take your time before facing those memories.
- Build a Chosen Family: When your biological family is gone, your "chosen" family (like the Kardashians were for Scott) becomes your lifeline.
- Health Advocacy: Jeffrey's relatively young death at 63 highlights the need for regular screenings and taking cancer symptoms seriously, even if you feel "fine."
The reality of how Scott Disick's dad passed away is much more human and much sadder than the tabloids often portray. It was a man losing his fight to an illness, leaving behind a son who had to figure out how to be a man entirely on his own. It remains the most defining moment of Scott’s life, overshadowing any TV contract or brand deal he has ever signed.