The Blended Bunch: Details on the deaths of Erica and Spencer’s previous spouses

TLC’s new reality series The Blended Bunch documents the story of a widow, a widower, and their 11 children attempting to move on together as a blended family.

“Before meeting, Erica Shemwell, a mother of 7, lost her husband to cancer and Spencer Shemwell, a father of 4, lost his wife in a fatal car crash,” TLC explains in the press release for the new series. “Their worlds were completely shattered until they serendipitously met in an online widower support group.”

Erica and Spencer both get emotional as they talk about the passing of their spouses on the show. “My husband Tony passed away from brain cancer three years ago,” Erica explains. “I feel like my heart was ripped out of my chest.”

“I lost my wife Aimee in a car accident,” Spencer says tearfully. “And I remember sitting the kids all in my lap. I said, ‘Mommy passed away.’ I thought there was no way I could love anyone like Aimee.”

The passing of Erica’s husband was not completely unexpected, as it was the end of a very long battle with cancer.

From a Fox News profile of the Shemwells:

Tony’s cancer hadn’t been a surprise. He lived with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, meaning his body was missing one of the two cancer-fighting genes that most of us have. His family had been ravaged by cancer for years. His mother died of breast cancer at age 29. His grandfather, uncle and three cousins died of cancer at ages 42, 49, 21, nine, and 18 months respectively. Additionally, an aunt had cancer as an infant and another uncle had cancer as a teen.

Tony was diagnosed with his brain tumor during their second year of marriage. Surgery was successful, but cancer returned three more times before he died.

Here is more information about Tony’s final battle from a GoFundMe set up to help his family:

Tony Means is a incredible person who has touched all who know him. He is an examplary husband, father, son, brother, seminary teacher, friend, and disciple of Jesus Christ…

…Since 2008 Tony has been fighting brain cancer; he has suffered through 3 major brain surgeries, paralysis of the left side of his body, and countless rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. In this last year his cancer has developed to a Stage 4 Glioblastoma which will soon take Tony away from us to live with his Heavely Father.

This Go Fund Me account will be handed directly over to Tony’s amazing and inspirational wife Erica. Tony and Erica have 6 wonderful children under the age of 9 with a 7th on the way. So far 3 of his children have Li-Fraumeni Syndrome.

All of us are lucky to call Tony a friend. Many have expressed their desires to help and the Means family have been moved to tears by extreme acts of kindness and charity. Please make a donation that will help them get through the tough upcoming months.

At the time of Tony’s death, Erica was living in Utah and was pregnant with their seventh child. She gave birth just a few months later. “I spent the next year trying to readjust…to life as a single mom, taking care of a newborn and my six other children,” she told The Stream in 2019.

Less than a year after Erica’s husband passed away, tragedy struck Spencer Shemwell and his family in Virginia.

From The Northern Virginia Daily on November 13, 2017:

Aimee Nicole Shemwell, 29, of Linden, died in a crash at 7:15 p.m. Monday in Warren County, according to Virginia State Police Sgt. F. “Les” Tyler.

Shemwell was in the passenger seat of a 2004 GMC Yukon SUV as the vehicle traveled southbound on Winchester Road. Her husband, Michael Spencer Shemwell, 29, also of Linden, was driving the SUV and took a left turn to get onto Country Club Road when a tractor trailer traveling northbound on Winchester Road collided with the vehicle.

The Shemwells’ four children were also in the car at the time of the crash. One child was flown to INOVA Fairfax Hospital and the other three were transported to Warren Memorial Hospital.

According to Virginia State Police Sgt. F. “Les” Tyler, the police investigation determined that “the traffic signal for the Yukon was red when it made a left turn and the northbound-lane traffic had a green light.”

Aimee’s obituary reveals that she was the oldest of seven children. She and Spencer were married on December 22, 2007 and they had four children together: Brayden Michael Shemwell in June 2008, Harper Lynn Shemwell in April 2012, Avery James Shemwell in April 2014, and Bexley William Shemwell in April 2016.

Erica and Spencer would later meet virtually in an online support group for grieving spouses. They met face-to-face soon after that at a conference in Utah.

“It wasn’t long after I got home that I felt a strong prompting from Heavenly Father that I needed to move my family to Utah,” Spencer told Fox News. Scott followed the prompting and packed up his family and made the trek across the country. He says that his relationship with Erica was just a friendship in the beginning, but it would eventually turn into a full courtship.

A few weeks after the courtship began, Spencer received yet another strong prompting — this time from his 10-year-old son, Brayden.

“Well, Dad, Erica’s husband passed away, and mom passed away, so why don’t you just marry her?”

Meet the Shemwell family from TLC's reality series #TheBlendedBunch. Spencer & Erica both lost their 1st spouses – 1 in a car accident, & the other to cancer. The grieving parents found love with each other & now they're struggling to blend 11 children. https://t.co/2PL1BoOGLl

— Starcasm (@starcasm) February 24, 2021

Spencer and Erica went on their first official date on November 24, 2018, and they would make it official by getting married less than two months later. They tied the knot on January 22, 2019 in Provo, Utah.

The Shemwells’ story garnered national attention and would eventually land them their own reality series on TLC. The Blended Family airs Tuesday night at 9/8c on TLC. you can also watch the show on discovery+.

UPDATE – The Shemwells have their own website with detailed bios of all the family members, including Tony Means and Aimee Shemwell. Click here for Tony’s bio and here for Aimee’s bio.

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com