Gabrielle Union is navigating one of the hardest seasons of her life, and she is not doing it alone. The actress, 53, recently shared how her husband, Dwyane Wade, 44, has shown up for her in the weeks following the death of her father, Sylvester Cully Union Jr., who passed away April 3 at age 81.
Speaking at the Tiffany & Co. Blue Book Gala in New York City on April 16, Union told PEOPLE that Wade and her father had developed a genuinely close bond over the years, and that his presence during her lowest moments has meant everything. She described him as being physically present when she feels herself falling apart, and the two have spent time looking through photos and sharing memories of the man they both loved.
A long goodbye made harder by dementia
Cully’s death did not come without warning, but that did not make it any easier. He had been living with a dementia diagnosis and was moved into memory care in 2023. In a tribute she shared on Instagram after his passing, Gabrielle Union reflected on the brutal, drawn out nature of the disease how it begins with small lapses and eventually robs a person of their most basic functions, including the ability to walk or swallow. She wrote about clinging to small moments: a fleeting look of recognition, a smile, even the faint pressure of a hand squeeze. For her, those tiny signals became lifelines.
Despite the illness, Union was careful to separate the disease from the man himself. She remembered Cully as someone who radiated warmth wherever he went a passionate music lover, an enthusiastic traveler and a devoted family man who, she said, never encountered a stranger, only friends he had not yet made. He was also, she noted, a lifelong, die hard Nebraska football fan who instilled in her a deep belief in teamwork, hard work and looking after those who need it most.
A birthday visit that stayed with her
In October 2025, Gabrielle Union marked her father’s 81st birthday with a heartfelt Instagram post, sharing photos from a bedside visit that also included Wade and other family members, among them her sister, Tracy. She wrote about the joy she felt seeing her father’s eyes light up when she and Wade walked in, and about how he still laughed when his grandsons teased him. That moment him still present, still responding, still there was, she said, enough.
Financial reality behind her career choices
Union has also been candid about the financial weight that came with her father’s care. At the American Black Film Festival in June 2025, she spoke openly about the high cost of memory care, the gaps in insurance coverage and the reality of supplementing with home health aides. She explained that those expenses directly shaped which projects she could pursue, pushing her toward higher paying opportunities rather than the independent films she might otherwise choose. She described the necessity of building multiple income streams through endorsements, brand partnerships and other ventures just to maintain the life her family had built. It was, she said, a frustrating but honest reality of her financial life.
A love story built on opposites
Union and Wade first crossed paths in 2007 while co hosting a Super Bowl party, though they spent most of the night on opposite ends of the room. They began dating in 2009 and went public with their relationship in 2010 before marrying in Miami in August 2014. Together, they share daughter Kaavia James, now 7, who was born via surrogate in 2018. Union is also a stepmother to Wade’s three children from prior relationships: Zaire, 24, Zaya, 18, and Xavier, 12. Through all of it the blended family, the public life and now the grief the couple has remained a visible and united front.
EXCLUSIVE : PEOPLE
