Martha Stewart is mourning the loss of her younger sister, Laura Plimpton, who died unexpectedly Tuesday after suffering a brain aneurysm at her Connecticut home.
According to the Daily Mail, Stewart sent out an email to her lifestyle company staff confirming the sudden death of her 59-year-old sister. While expressing her sadness over the situation, the home, garden and cooking expert explained her sister's passing could help save the lives of people who are in need healthy body organs.
"My youngest sister, and the youngest of the six Kostyra siblings, Laura Kostyra Plimpton, passed away today in Norwalk Hospital," Stewart wrote in an email obtained by the Daily Mail. "She was an extraordinary employee, mother, wife and sister."
Stewart added: "We are so sad, but also happy that Laura had the foresight to donate so many healthy organs to needy people."
Plimpton, who held a senior position at Stewart's company for more than 25 years, collapsed during her morning workout. Stewart said her sister was able to call for help from her second husband, Randy, and was rushed to Norwalk hospital, where she later died.
During a 2004 interview with CNN's "Larry King Live," Plimpton gushed about her "very special relationship" with her older sister, while showing her sister support after she was sentenced to five months in prison.
"All I wanted to do was be around her, her husband, and then when Alexis was born, I just wanted to take care of Alexis," she told Larry King. "I would pack my little suitcase and go every weekend, practically, just to be with Martha."
Plimpton joined her sister's company after her first husband died at the age 33 from a rare form of lymphoma.
"Sadly, my first husband passed away and left me with two young children," she said. "And I was just in shock. The rug was pulled out from under me. She bought me a house to live in, so that my kids could go to a nice school, and how generous is that?"
