Matt Roloff Remembers Brother’s Tragic Death

Little People, Big World patriarch Matt Roloff is having a banner year, welcoming grandson Jackson to the world in May and watching daughter Molly get married in August.

But the gregarious TLC star has also had his fair share of tragedy, including the 1999 death of his brother Joshua, he revealed in his book, Against Tall Odds: Being A David In A Goliath World.

When Joshua was born in 1964, he was almost immediately diagnosed with severe heart and lung issues, Roloff recalls. Doctors didn’t think he would make it past a few days.

Joshua survived, but there were many tense days and nights in the hospital the elder Roloff recalls waiting for his brother to come out of surgeries.

In his memoir, Roloff calls it a “miracle” that Joshua made it through a procedure to correct a brain abscess.

“He’s had many close calls with death, and Mom has had to resuscitate him more times than she cares to remember,” Roloff wrote. “Many times Josh’s heart and lungs have simply stopped functioning on their own, and on other occasions, he’s had seizures that would have taken his life had someone not been there to help him.”

Joshua ultimately passed away at the age of 34 in 1999 due to his health conditions.

The family dedicated their 2007 book Little People, Big Values to him.

“A great son, brother, uncle and friend who was with us in this life for far too short a time,” they said. “We all miss you and think of you every day, and we look forward to being reunited with you one day in the presence of our Lord.”