Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s wife, Tenisha Warner, took to Instagram on Friday to eulogize her deceased husband on the eve of their wedding anniversary.
Tenisha and Warner tied the knot in 2017. The widow in her post shared a photo of them beaming with laughter on their wedding day. She also expressed her gratitude for the outpouring of support in the wake of her husband’s tragic passing and announced the establishment of The Warner Family Foundation as well as River & Ember.
Tenisha said that she and their daughter launched the two organizations to “carry the legacy” she started with her deceased husband.
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“River & Ember was born not only from my knowledge as a doctor of psychology, but from my own journey with grief and love. It’s about creating rituals that outlast us – the kind our children will carry as a legacy,” she stated.
“River & Ember began with two simple forces: the steady flow that carries us forward, and the quiet warmth that keeps us alive inside. My husband embodied both. His presence was a river – steady, sure, and always moving toward what matters.”
She added: “His spirit was an ember – glowing with encouragement, igniting possibility in those around him. His way of seeing the world – that children’s inner light is worth tending with care and constancy – is the heartbeat of everything we create here.This work is not just my offering to families; it is a continuation of the love and presence that shaped our own.”
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Tenisha also stated that her deceased husband “believed deeply in tending not only to the inner light in children, but in ourselves.”
“This company carries forward that belief – offering stories and rituals that honor the quiet power of connection between parent and child. This work is a continuation of that presence he embodied. Through story and ritual, I hope to offer families the same gifts he gave us: a sense of being held, and a reminder that even in life’s changing seasons, our inner light is worth tending. To the river that carried us,” she continued.
“To the ember that never goes out. Your love was the first story I ever wanted to keep telling. From a place of love and legacy…”
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Warner, 54, accidentally drowned after he was dragged by a water current at Playa Grande in Limon, Costa Rica, on July 20.
Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), in a statement to PEOPLE, said that Warner, fondly remembered for starring in The Cosby Show, was without his daughter in the water at the time that he drowned.
“Mr. Warner was playing with his daughter at the seashore at one point. He then left her out of the water, and he and a friend of his entered the sea,” the statement, which was translated to English from Spanish, said.
“It was at that moment that they were swept away by the current, and the friend managed to get out,” the statement added. “However, Mr. Warner was unable to get out and was pulled out by several people on the beach. He received care from Red Cross officials, but was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Warner underwent an autopsy, and his cause of death was ruled as accidental asphyxiation by submersion. The deceased 54-year-old is survived by his wife and daughter, and initial reports stated that he was vacationing in Costa Rica with his family at the time of the fatal accident.
READ ALSO: Man dies after rushing to save child from drowning in river
