‘Breakfast Club’ Star Molly Ringwald Writes Emotional Tribute to Late Father After His Death at 80

The Breakfast Club star Molly Ringwald‘s father, jazz musician Robert Scott Ringwald, died on Tuesday. He was 80. Ringwald paid tribute to her father by writing his obituary in the Sacramento Bee Friday and shared a collection of photos on Instagram.

“It’s with a heavy heart that my family says goodbye to my father. I consider myself very lucky to have had in my life as long as I did. Robert Scott Ringwald 1940-2021 The obituary I wrote for him is in my bio,” Ringwald wrote on Instagram. She included a few photos of herself with her father, as well as a picture of the pianist as a child. The last slide read “father” in braille as Robert was legally blind as an infant and became totally blind in his teen years.

Robert was born on Nov. 26, 1940, in Roseville, California. He started taking piano lessons at 5 and joined his first band at 13. By the time he was 17, Robert was already playing nightclubs as a professional musician and continued performing for the rest of his life, Ringwald wrote in the obituary. In 1960, he married Adele Frembd, his wife of 60 years.

Although Robert began performing modern jazz, Louis Armstrong’s music inspired his lifelong passion for performing and preserving New Orleans jazz. “Anyone who knew Bob also knew his mischievous streak, and his ever-present, slightly ribald sense of humor,” Ringwald wrote. “If you didn’t sufficiently beg to get off of his email joke list, you would have received one just a couple of days before he died.”

Robert was a mainstay in the Sacramento music scene, forming the Fulton Street Jazz band, which performed at the first Sacramento Jazz Festival in 1974. He served as an original board member for the festival, which took place every year for 44 years. In 2012, the festival honored him as “The Emperor of Jazz,” an honor that “both touched and embarrassed him,” Ringwald wrote.

“Despite having been a performer for nearly his entire life, he was never comfortable having attention bestowed on him unless he was on stage with a piano,” the Riverdale star added. “Nevertheless, Bob drew attention wherever he went. His natural charisma, authenticity, and sense of humor made people fall in love with him and want to be around him.”

Robert is survived by his wife Adele, sister Renee Angus; daughters Beth Ringwald Carnes and Ringwald; son Kelly Ringwald; two grandsons; two granddaughters; two step-granddaughters; one great-grandson; and one step-great-grandson. “Though he never wanted to be defined by his blindness, he couldn’t help being an ambassador for changing the perception of what is possible to do while living with a disability,” Ringwald wrote of her father. “His dignity, humor, strength of character, and courage will always be remembered and cherished by everyone whose lives were touched by his.”