Cause of Death for Chris Affleck, Mom to Ben and Casey Affleck, Revealed

Chris Affleck passed away at her son's residence this summer, just two days after she watched her grandson cross the stage at his high school graduation. Her death certificate now sheds light on the medical circumstances behind her final moments.

The cause of death for Ben Affleck's mother, Chris Affleck, has come to light. Chris died on June 2, 2026, her family confirmed, six months after receiving a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. She was 83.

Us Weekly recently obtained the matriarch's death certificate, which offered new insight into her final hours. According to the document, Chris died of cardiopulmonary arrest, with pancreatic adenocarcinoma listed as a contributing factor.

The certificate noted she passed while "visiting son's residence" at 10:52 a.m., with records tying the address to Ben. Her remains were en route to Earth Funeral in Las Vegas at the time the certificate was filed, and no autopsy was conducted.

Word of her death first emerged on Friday, July 24 — more than a month after she'd succumbed to the illness. Per her obituary in The Boston Globe, doctors had given her six months to live following her diagnosis.

Born in New York City in 1942, Chris was known to many simply as the mother of two Academy Award winners, Ben and his brother Casey Affleck. But she carved out a formidable legacy of her own long before her sons found fame.

A Harvard University graduate, Chris spent 35 years shaping young minds as a public school teacher. She held the distinction of being among the first Radcliffe women to earn a Harvard diploma.

Her activism ran deep: she taught literacy courses in Mississippi during Freedom Summer, protested the Vietnam War, and fully embraced the spirit of 1960s counterculture.

She also served as one of the original Freedom Riders, traveling through the Deep South to challenge segregation. Chris retired from teaching in 2008, but remained a dedicated civil rights advocate for the rest of her life.

She and ex-husband Timothy Affleck welcomed Ben in 1972, followed by Casey in 1975, around the time the family moved to Massachusetts, where Chris continued teaching.

Beyond her two sons, Chris is survived by five grandchildren — Indiana (2004), Violet (2005), Atticus (2008), Fin (2009), and Sam (2012) — each of whom, according to her obituary, inherited her rebellious streak:

"Chris was suitably proud of her descendants' achievements, but she was delighted when they questioned, defied, or cleverly engaged authority."

"Her greatest wish after her diagnosis, however, was to live to see her grandson graduate high school," the obituary continued. "She did so, attending with her family on May 31, 2026. She died peacefully, in her sleep, two days later."

Despite guarding his personal life closely, Ben has openly credited his mother with helping launch his career — a path she championed from the start.

As his interest in acting took hold during his teenage years, Chris connected him with her former Harvard roommate, casting director Patty Collins, who helped him land auditions for commercials and TV movies.

She was in the audience when Ben won his first Oscar in 1998 for Best Original Screenplay, shared with Matt Damon for "Good Will Hunting" — a film that also featured Casey. Damon, too, had brought his own mother as his date that night.

"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," Ben told Vanity Fair of the moment.

"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?"

Ben later took home a second Oscar for producing "Argo," which won Best Picture in 2012. Casey followed in his brother's footsteps in 2017, winning Best Actor for his role in Kenneth Lonergan's "Manchester by the Sea."