Mary Tyler Moore's Husband Speaks Out About Her Death: "Her Light Will Never Go Out"

Plenty of people are still reeling from the sudden passing of Mary Tyler Moore, who died at age 80 on Jan. 25 due to complications with her diabetes. Like her costar Betty White, Mary's husband, Dr. S. Robert Levine, released a heartbreaking statement about the incredible impact she had on his life.

"I can't believe she is gone. Mary was my life, my light, my love," he said in an exclusive statement to People magazine. "The emptiness I feel without her with me is without bottom. She was a force of nature who fiercely defended her autonomy even as her health was failing. Mary was fearless, determined, and willfull. If she felt strongly about something, or that there was truth to be told, she would do it, no matter the consequences. She was kind, genuine, approachable, honest, and humble. And she had that smile. Oh, to see her smile that smile, just once more . . . My sadness is only tempered by the remarkable outpouring of good wishes, tributes, and personal 'Mary stories' told, with heart, by those touched by her grace. As long as we all remember her, talk about her, share our stories about her, and what she meant to us, her light will never go out."

Mary met her future husband after having been married twice before (first to Richard Meeker and then to TV executive Grant Tinker) in 1982, which was only two years after the death of her 24-year-old son, Ritchie. When her mother, Marge, got sick with a severe case of bronchitis, the Dick Van Dyke Show star ended up meeting Dr. Levine, who was on call that day. They got married on Thanksgiving Eve in 1983 at the Pierre Hotel in NYC and remained together up until her death. In 2013, she told Entertainment Tonight that Robert "has always been very good at getting me out of myself when I get down and depressed and all of that — never seriously. So, I am basically a very happy person." It's safe to say her legacy will live on in her husband and her many famous friends and fans.