Reese Witherspoon remembers publicist Nanci Ryder following her death from ALS: ‘I miss her so much’

Reese Witherspoon shared a touching remembrance on Instagram for her late friend Nanci Ryder on Friday.

The 44-year-old Oscar winner developed a strong relationship with the high-profile Hollywood publicist and said she was like another ‘mother to me.’

Ryder died Thursday afternoon at age 67 following a six-year battle with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

‘Sometime in life, if you are lucky, you meet someone who takes you under their wing and cares for you like a daughter. Nanci Ryder was that other mother to me,’ Witherspoon began her caption.

She recounted meeting Ryder when she was only 19 and getting to travel the world with her as a rising star. 

‘But I loved our talks the most. Everyday after my kids went to school, she would call me to chat about shopping, purses, vintage jewelry, and about the Bachelor. 

‘One day, Nanci called and told me she was having trouble talking…it was ALS. Nanci lived with and fought ALS for 6 years,’ she continued, before offering condolences to those battling the disease.

‘Yesterday, my Nanci left this world. I’m so sad because I miss her so much, but now I know she is Heaven chatting with all her friends about purses, jewelry and she is looking down on me… smiling. ALWAYS. I LOVE YOU, Nanci,’ she concluded.

Witherspoon included multiple pictures of her and Ryder throughout the years, most featuring her infectious smile. 

She also shared some group photos featuring some of Ryder’s other A-list clients, including her fellow Oscar winner Renée Zellweger and Courteney Cox.

Ryder represented Hollywood royalty like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Following her 2014 ALS diagnosis, her industry friends created Team Nanci, a group that put on regular events in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park to raise funds for the ALS Association Golden West Chapter.

Witherspoon seemed to allude to Ryder’s impending death in a Los Angeles Times interview published Tuesday.

‘I don’t have a lot of fear, that’s true,’ the Legally Blonde actress said. ‘There’s a time and a purpose and a place, and I don’t fear death, because I know there’s heaven. I know it.’

She was responding to a morbidly funny anecdote about her Big Little Lies costar Nicole Kidman, who said that she thought about dying ‘all the time’ while the two were in makeup on the set of their hit HBO series Big Little Lies. 

‘I believe deeply that there’s a higher power — and I don’t know what that is — but I just don’t fear dying,’ Witherspoon continued.  

‘A lot of people have these repressive experiences with religion, and I didn’t.

‘I felt this incredible acceptance and that everyone has a gift and we’re all God’s children and your purpose in the world is to find the gifts that God gave you,’ she said.