Devastated: Alan Thicke's ex-wife Gloria Loring has revealed their sons Robin and Bren were heartbroken by his death
Alan Thicke's ex-wife Gloria Loring has revealed their sons Robin and Bren were devastated by their father's sudden death.
She said the pair 'could barely talk' after the popular game show host and actor suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of just 69 on Tuesday.
Gloria, whose 14 year marriage to the Growing Pains star ended in 1984, said her eldest son Bren, 41, informed her of the medical emergency soon after it happened.
The 70-year-old told People: 'My son Bren sent me a text that said: ‘Dad’s had a heart attack it’s a big deal.
'I called back but he didn’t answer the phone.
'Then I got a call from Robin after that. Robin said that they had taken him to the hospital and that he was going into surgery.
'I said, "Well, that sounds hopeful." Literally minutes later, I got a text message from Bren that said, "He’s gone."'
Former Days Of Our Lives beauty Gloria was married to Alan in 1970 and they separated in 1984, though their divorce was finalised two years later.
Alan collapsed while playing ice hockey with his 19-year-old son Carter, whose mother is his beauty queen former wife Gina Tolleson, in Burbank, California on Tuesday.
He later died of a heart attack at the nearby Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center.
Message: Robin called his mother to tell her his father was undergoing surgery
Gloria said she could not believe the father to her 39-year-old singing star son Robin and Dennis The Menace star Bren had passed.
The former singing star said: 'When I read (Bren's message) I said out loud, "No." At first, I couldn’t believe it.
'I thought: ‘What? No. It can’t be true. It’s too fast. It’s too final."'
And even she was unable to speak to her boys in the hours following the shock death of the as they were 'just devastated and could barely talk.'
His boys: Alan with Bren and Robin at an event in Beverly Hills in 1991
She added: 'I’ve sent them some messages and have called — neither of them are answering their phones right now.'
However the family will get together to grieve their loss on Saturday for what was originally meant to be a celebration of Gloria and Bren's birthdays.
The actress said: 'We have family members who were flying in for that, so we will be able to have a little commiserating celebration of Alan.
Husband: Gloria, here with Alan in 1982, was married to the actor from 1970 until 1986
'It’ll be a remembrance. Obviously, we have to continue to embrace what we do have and there’ll be a lot of talk about Dad.
'It will very bittersweet, but I think being together is very healing.'
Gloria also had words of comfort for his youngest son Carter and his latest wife, 41-year-old former model Tanya Callau.
She said: 'They’re living with him every day. That physical loss, we have the emotional and psychological loss, but for them to also have the physical loss of his presence and his humor and his perspective and wisdom and guidance … my heart goes out to both of them so much.'
Coming together: Gloria will be with her boys Robin and Bren on Saturday at an event that was originally a birthday celebration
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