Julia Roberts Mother Dies: Betty Lou Motes Loses Lung Cancer Battle, Dies At 80 [Breaking]

Julia Roberts’ mother has died. According to Wicked Local Harvard, the actress’ mom, Betty Lou Motes, had been battling lung cancer for the past two years. She passed away on Thursday at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. Motes had been living with Roberts and her family (including her husband and their three children) in Los Angeles before her death.

According to Sunday World, Motes was diagnosed with cancer in November, 2013. At the time, a tumor was found on her lung during an MRI. Although she was undergoing treatment, a devastating blow last year broke her heart. Her daughter — Julia’s half sister — committed suicide.

Julia Roberts’ mother died just one year and one week after Nancy Motes. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Motes was found dead in her bathroom after an apparent drug overdose on Feb. 9, 2014. At the time, the family released a statement confirming the tragic news.

“It is with deep sadness that the family of Nancy Motes … confirms that she was found dead in Los Angeles yesterday of an apparent drug overdose. There is no official report from the Coroner’s office yet. The family is both shocked and devastated.”

Of course Roberts was completely devastated by the passing of her half-sister, though the two had quite a bumpy relationship. At the time, Roberts said that she was spending time grieving with her family.

“It’s just heartbreak… You don’t want anything bad to happen to anyone, but there are so many tragic, painful, inexplicable things in the world. But [as with] any situation of challenge and despair, we must find a way, as a family. It’s so hard to formulate a sentence about it outside the weepy huddle of my family…. Meditation or chanting or any of those things can be so joyous and also very quieting.”

[Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]