Bill Putman obit

‘Papa’ Bill Putman Has Died 

He was not on the list.

Three members of the family featured in TLC‘s 2017 series Meet the Putmans have died after a car accident that also injured five others.

The family announced grandparents ‘Papa’ Bill Putman and ‘Neenee’ Barb Putman, as well as their daughter-in-law Megan Putman, “have gone home to be with the Lord” after they died from their injuries.

“Dear Friends and Family, I come to you with a heavy heart asking for your prayers. Our family was in a tragic car accident and we lost Papa, Neenee, and Aunt Megan,” the family announced in a statement on Instagram.

Megan’s husband Blake and their children Lulu, Alena and Noah, plus niece Gia, were also injured in the accident, as the family asked followers to keep them “in your prayers as they remain in the hospital, we are asking for complete healing and strength for each of them.”

The family added in part, “We ask for your continued prayers for Uncle Blake, Lulu, Alena, Noah, and Gia as they recover, and for our whole family as we walk through this deep loss. Even in this valley, we will praise Him. We trust that His plan is perfect, and that one day, we will be reunited in Heaven.”

The Putmans were introduced in TLC’s 2017 reality show Meet the Putmans, which followed Bill and Barb’s extended multi-generational family of 25 as they lived under one roof. The series was revived on YouTube as Growing Up Putman in 2021.

Bill Putman became a well-known name in every American household with the TLC reality-TV show, Meet the Putmans. The multi-season series followed a massive, multi-generational family living under one roof in Michigan, a reality that was foreign to the American households of the modern world. The show depicted Bill and his wife, Barb (Neenee), as the anchors of this uncommon domestic experience.