Ryan Dorsey Honors Naya Rivera On The First Mother’s Day Since Her Death

Ryan Dorsey made sure to honor his ex-wife Naya Rivera on the first Mother’s Day since her tragic death last year.

Source: Gregg DeGuire / Getty

On Sunday, May 9, the actor took to Instagram to share a short-but-sweet heartfelt tribute to Rivera, who died in July 2020 while on a boating trip with their son, Josey.

Dorsey posted a picture of Naya and Josey during a trip to Disneyland, which features the Glee actress boasting a huge smile on her face. “We can’t say the word happy but we’ll say thank you for being a mother & giving me this sweet amazing boy,” Dorsey captioned the throwback.

This heartfelt tribute from Dorsey comes just a month after Rivera was honored at the 32nd GLAAD Media Awards. During their tribute to the late star, the cast of Glee touched on Rivera’s close relationship with her son.

“Naya and I were good friends on the show,” Matthew Morrison said, “but I think we became much better friends when we both had children and to see her put all that energy into her son was just an incredible sight to see and something I’ll always remember.”

It’s been almost a year since the star’s tragic death, which happened last July. The 33-year-old actress was reported missing after her 4-year-old son was discovered alone on a boat just three hours after she rented it. Authorities determined that she and her son had been swimming in the lake, but Rivera did not return to the boat and presumably drowned. Her body was discovered in the lake just a few days later.