Pop icon Justin Bieber has mourned the loss of his grandfather via PEOPLE.
In an emotional Instagram tribute on Saturday, April 26th, the two-time Grammy winner, revealed that his maternal grandfather, Bruce Dale, has passed away.
Dale passed away on Thursday, April 24th, according to an online obituary from a funeral home based in Bieber’s hometown of Stratford, Ontario. He was 80.
Sharing a throwback image of the pair taken in 2009, Bieber wrote in the caption of his post, “Papa, I always took all ur money lol. I remember u specifically telling me, gramma gave u an allowance of 20 dollars for the WEEK! I would always convince you to spend on snacks at the hockey game on Friday nights. Reluctantly you always gave it to me.”
“Corn nuts, skittles, gum balls, chuck a puck, slush puppies,” he added. “Shout out to the jr b referees Beatty, Fagon, Flanagan lmfao. For enduring all of my grandpa’s heckling for all of your horrible referee calls lmfao. My grandpa wasn’t shy in letting them know that they were being pieces of s—s.”
Bieber shared some sports memories, Bieber continued his message to his grandfather, writing: “I can’t wait to see u again soon in heaven.”
“Until then I know ur watching down probly still heckling Beatty or Fagon for missing that cross check call in the corner there lmfao,” the star concluded.
“I will miss u. I will ache. And I’ll sit and let myself remember all of the wonderful times we’ve had.”
The photo Bieber chose for his tribute was taken in Ontario in November 2009, just a few days before the then-15-year-old pop star released his debut EP, My World. In the image, Bieber can be seen smiling at his grandfather, with his hands placed on his family member’s face.
As per Dale’s obituary, he died at Rotary Hospice Stratford Perth. He was husband to Bieber’s grandmother, Diane Dale, and father to Candie Toper, Chris Mallette, Chris Dale and Pattie Mallette, Bieber’s mother.
The obituary also stated that Bieber was one of his three grandchildren, and Dale was a great-grandfather to six kids in total, including Bieber’s son, Jack Blues, whom he shares with wife Hailey Bieber. Bieber’s grandfather made appearances in both 2011’s Never Say Never and the 2020 Justin Bieber: Seasons docuseries.
