Gone, but not forgotten. Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel shared a heartfelt tribute to her late ex Dennis Shields for Father’s Day.
The Skinnygirl founder, 48, shared a photo on Instagram on Sunday, June 16, of Shields wading into the water with the sun shining overhead.
“Happy Father’s Day,” she wrote. “In memory of Dennis, a man who was a father of five beautiful children and a beautiful influence in my daughter’s life.” (Frankel shares daughter Bryn, 9, with ex-husband Jason Hoppy.)
Frankel admitted in April that she’s begun to allow herself to feel the pain of Shields’ loss. “I loved Dennis, and we talk about him a lot now, more [now] that the dust has settled,” she told Us Weekly at the time. “Now that months have gone by, I’ll have sad days.”
The businessman was found dead in his hotel room at Trump Tower in New York City on August 10, 2018, at the age of 51. Though the New York Post reported at the time that he had overdosed on prescription pills, his cause of death was never determined, as there were religious objections to an autopsy of his body.
Us reported in August that the banker had popped the question to the reality star four months ahead of his death. “Dennis really loved her,” a source noted at the time.
Frankel confirmed Shields’ proposal in March. “Dennis and I went out to dinner in April and he proposed,” she said in a March 20 episode of the Bravo show. “It’s funny because he said to me, ‘Well, did you say yes?’ And I said, ‘Well, I love you, and I can’t believe you did this, but we have to talk about some conditions and some terms and how things are going to change, issues I’ve had with partnership and consistency.’”
She continued, “It was all very complicated, and it wasn’t what a natural engagement should be. So, our engagement was on ice.”
Still, Frankel was “hopeful” about their future together. As an insider explained to Us in August, “She was so in love with Dennis and wanted to be with him.”
