HGTV star announces death of 'very special' family member

HGTV star Erin Napier is saying goodbye to a beloved family member.

The "Home Town" star announced the death of her Aunt Mae Mae in a Nov. 4 Instagram post, writing that her "very special" relative had passed away.

"If any of you met her when she worked as a greeter at our stores, you did not forget her. Her gift was loving people. Loving meeting them, talking to them," Napier wrote. "She worked in retail her entire life and could teach a master class in service."

Napier reflected on the time she and her Aunt Mae Mae spent together in her younger years, when her "mama was a part-time realtor," adding how those experiences were instrumental in shaping the woman she would eventually become.

"She walked me through the trails in the woods on the hill where 4 generations of my family have lived. We collected leaves, and glued them into scrapbooks, Napier said.

Napier says Aunt Mae Mae saw her 'creative gifts'

Napier also credited her Aunt Mae Mae for showing her all the John Wayne movies she needed to know, teaching her about the presidents, singing her Elvis and telling her about Jesus.

"She saw my creative gifts and knew exactly how to nurture them, helping raise up a professional artist without even realizing it," Napier said.

Napier said she could hear her aunt's goose-like laugh in her memory, adding that she would forever associate her Aunt Mae Mae with the "smell (of) Ivory soap and remember the way she bathed me in her cast iron sink and fed me little ice cream cones with marshmallows and strawberry jam hidden in the bottom."

Napier, who shares two daughters with husband and "Home Town" cohost Ben Napier, said she "knew" she would name her "last baby girl" after her Aunt Mae Mae.

"She was so very special," Napier said. "I so hope she got to meet Elvis today!"

The announcement comes less than a week after she and Ben won a 2026 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Instructional/How-To Program for Season 3 of "Home Town Takeover".