Inside Jennifer Garner’s bond with ex Ben Affleck’s late mother

Even years after her split from Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner maintained a loving bond with her former mother-in-law, Chris Anne, who has died at the age of 83. 

On Thursday, it was revealed Chris Anne pᴀssed away from pancreatic cancer on June 2. The matriarch of the family is survived by sons Ben, 53, and Casey, 50, and five grandkids.

Despite her son’s split from Garner, 54, the two women remained fiercely close over the years, frequently celebrating holidays together and stepping out on casual strolls in Los Angeles. 

Chris Anne even stayed with the actress and her kids while Affleck was getting treatment at a rehab facility in Malibu in 2018.  

Highlighting their ongoing bond, Affleck and his late mother also joined the actress at her home for Thanksgiving dinner just last year. 

Affleck and Garner – who announced their separation in 2015 and finalized their divorce in 2018 – have continued to co-parent their three children, Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 14.  

And in 2024, Chris Anne was pictured leaving grandson Samuel’s basketball game with Garner, despite arriving at the event with Affleck and his then wife Jennifer Lopez. 

Even years after her split from Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, 54, maintained a loving bond with her former mother-in-law, Chris Anne, who has died at the age of 83; The two seen in 2017

Garner and Affleck – who announced their separation in 2015 and finalized their divorce in 2018 – have continued to co-parent their three children, Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 14; Seen 2014

In 2024, Chris Anne and Affleck were pictured having a chat with Garner, with the doting mother affectionately patting Garner’s arm and beaming at her. 

Ben Affleck’s mother Chris Anne Affleck ᴅᴇᴀᴅ at 83 after battle with pancreatic cancer

In the months following Garner and Affleck’s June 2015 separation, the 13 Going on 30 star and Chris Anne were spotted spending quality time together and grabbing coffee in Los Angeles.

In 2017, while Affleck was off on a trip with then-girlfriend Lindsay Shookus, Garner was seen stepping out for a stroll with his mom. 

The pair shared laughs and affectionate side-hugs along the way, looking more like mother and daughter. 

That year Garner revealed how she spent Thanksgiving with Affleck and her mother-in-law. At the time, they had been separated for two years already.

‘Ben’s mom, Chris, will be in town and she and Ben will take the kids and I’ll have crafts set up and I’ll have T-Ball, soccer, I’ll have anything set up,’ she told Entertainment Tonight.

‘If they will play with the kids and just let me cook, it is heaven for me. I will make homemade bread, I’ll make stuffing, I’ll make a turkey, I’ll make gravy, I’ll make sweet potato pudding, I’ll make pies. Just let me have that day in the kitchen.’

And in 2019, Affleck shouted out his mom and Garner in a sweet Mother’s Day post.

Despite her son’s split from Garner, the two women remained fiercely close over the years, frequently celebrating holidays together and stepping out on casual strolls; Seen in 2014

Chris Anne even stayed with the actress and her kids while Affleck was getting treatment at a rehab facility in Malibu in 2018; The two pictured in 2009 

Highlighting their ongoing bond, Affleck and his late mother also joined the actress at her home for Thanksgiving dinner just last year; Garner and Chris Anne pictured in 2010

In 2024, Chris Anne and Affleck were pictured having a chat with Garner, with the doting mother affectionately patting Garner’s arm and beaming at her

Affleck previously praised his mother and Garner for their parenting skills; The ladies pictured celebrating Fourth of July in 2010 

‘Happy Mother’s Day to the two incredible mothers who have shown me the meaning of love,’ he wrote under a pH๏τo of the two women smiling together.

Affleck also previously praised his mother and Garner for their parenting.

‘You know, I just marvel at my mother who did a great job of raising my brother and I. Parenting is hard work but it’s so rewarding and I certainly do my best,’ he told E! News in 2016. 

‘Jen is a superhero mom. She is an amazing mother and I’m really lucky to have her as a partner to co-parent these kids with. We try our best, we put them first and that’s what we do.’

Chris Anne’s family revealed the sad news of her death on Thursday, following her pᴀssing on June 2, according to a Legacy obituary.

According to her obit, she had been told by doctors she had six months to live last December, and her final wish was to see her grandson’s high school graduation.

She attended the ceremony this past May 31, and died while sleeping just two days later.

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Ben Affleck and Casey Affleck for further comment on the story.

Chris Anne’s family revealed the sad news of her death on Thursday, following her pᴀssing on June 2; She is seen with Affleck in 2004

The matriarch of the family is survived by Ben and her other actor son Casey Affleck, 50, as well as five grandkids; Casey and Chris Anne pictured in 2000

Chris Anne was born in December of 1942 in New York City. She graduated from Harvard University and was a public school teacher for 35 years prior to her retirement in 2008.

Affleck, speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in 2012 about his mother, said, ‘My mother taught public school, went to Harvard and then got her master’s there and taught fifth and sixth grade in a public school.’

She was a staunch advocate for civil rights, and had traveled to the South in the 1960s during a time of social change, according to her obituary.

Chris Anne ‘taught literacy classes in Mississippi during Freedom Summer, marched against the Vietnam War, and reveled in 1960s counterculture,’ her obituary stated.

She carried these values into the classroom, according to the obit, as ‘every student, whether just arrived from Haiti or Cambridge upper crust, was a cherished citizen of her classroom republic, equal to each other and to herself.’

Chris Anne and ex-husband Timothy Affleck welcomed Ben in 1972 and Casey in 1975. In the mid-1970s, they moved to Mᴀssachusetts, as Chris Anne taught there. They got divorced when Ben was 12-years-old, and Timothy would move to California afterwards.

Casey, speaking to Boston Magazine in 2006, credited his mother for keeping the household steady during the turbulent time.

‘She always made us go on family vacations,’ Casey said. ‘When you’re a kid, you just want to stay home and hang out with your friends. You don’t want to go to your grandparents’ house.’

The actor and his mother were pictured at an Academy Awards party in 1998

Chris Anne, Ben and Samuel seen in Brentwood, California in June of 2015

‘But tradition meant a lot to her. She just insisted. We had a lot of fights about that. But now I love it and those are some of my favorite memories.’

She encouraged her son Ben’s show business aspirations early on, introducing him to casting director Patty Collins, who had been her roommate at Harvard when she attended college, according to THR.

Collins ᴀssisted a young Ben with auditions for TV films and commercials.

Affleck, in a 2007 interview with Parade, opened up about his early days in front of the camera with his mother’s support.

‘I got into acting as a young child on account of a sort of arbitrary thing,’ he said at the time. ‘A friend of my mom’s was a casting director so, really as kind of a lark.’

‘I had a couple of acting jobs that had just enough exposure to give me the option to continue if I wanted to. I followed through with it.’

Chris Anne was behind Affleck throughout his show business career, and went to the Academy Awards with him and Matt Damon in 1998, when they won the Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.

Affleck recalled to Vanity Fair in April of 2023: ‘We were sitting next to our moms and we won, and we kind of hugged our moms. I remember how everyone had made such a big thing out of it as if this was such a novelty.’

Chris Anne seen with Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in November of 2002

‘I remember thinking, being insecure, like, “Why? Why is it weird that we’re bringing our moms?” Who else do you think we would bring?’ 

Chris Anne had also been to her son’s 2022 nuptials to Lopez, braving a health scare the day before with a leg injury before returning to see them exchange vows. He and Lopez divorced two years later in 2024.

His mother retired from teaching in 2008 but stayed active tending to social causes she held dear.

They included campaigning for former President Barack Obama, putting together the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine, and being a board member for the Sustainable Cape project in Truro, Mᴀssachusetts, her obit stated.

After she was presented with the health diagnosis late last year, Chris Anne contacted her pal Josh Laub to record ‘oral histories of his time as a principal in the South Bronx,’ according to her obit.