Jill’s Touching Tribute to Bobby Zarin

Jill Zarin shared a touching tribute to her late husband Bobby, who died at age 71 on Saturday following a long battle with thyroid cancer.

“Rest In Peace my love,” she captioned a slideshow of photos of the two over the years. “Words cannot express the hole in my heart. Bobby taught me what true and deep love is. Thank you my love for sharing your life with me… for raising Allyson as if she was your own, being an amazing father and grandfather and teaching me how to be a better person. You inspire those around you to be the best they can be. I will never forget you… your legacy lives on through your beautiful children and grandchildren.”

• She went on to say that she would continue to work and advocate for the International Thyroid Oncology Group so that “maybe this won’t happen to the next guy who draws the proverbial short straw.”
• She thanked her friends, family and fans for their “incredible love.”
• During his packed service on Monday at Riverside Memorial, which was attended by RHONY stars Bethenny Frankel, Sonja Morgan, Dorinda Medley and Aviva Drescher, along with Million Dollar Matchmaker’s Patti Stanger and President Donald Trump‘s ex-wife Marla Maples, Jill spoke and moved her friends and family to tears, People reports.
• “I wasn’t sure if I could stand up here today,” the 54-year-old said. “[Bobby] was an incredibly great husband, a great father, and grandfather, and [a] truly great friend.”
• Jill’s RHONY costar Bethenny was among those who posted tributes to Bobby. According to Bethenny, it was Bobby who first gave her the opportunity to launch herself from being an unknown natural food chef into becoming the head of a $120M+ Skinnygirl empire via the RHONY franchise.
• “The first housewives producer who found me in the Hamptons just emailed me to tell me that it was Bobby who suggested me to her for RHONY,” Frankel tweeted to her more than one million followers on Sunday, January 14.