After being married to Patrick Swayze for 34 years, his widow Lisa Niemi Swayze found love again.
In 2014, the actress and author married jeweler Albert DePrisco. They met through mutual friends.
“I love Patrick so deeply — and it’s interesting because that hasn’t changed in finding new love,” the 66-year-old told “Good Morning America” on Monday. “Just because you lose someone doesn’t mean love stops.”
Niemi Swayze noted that she and DePrisco “felt so blessed to find each other because we still have a lot of love to give, and it’s wonderful to find someone to give it to.”
Albert DePrisco and Lisa Niemi Swayze said “I do” in 2014. He has been fully supportive of her work in raising awareness on pancreatic cancer.
(Photo by Essdras M Suarez/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
And she’s just as determined to keep the late star’s legacy alive.
The actor, who starred in numerous hit films including “Dirty Dancing” and Ghost” passed away in 2009 from advanced pancreatic cancer. He was 57. November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.
“I used to always say, particularly with the kinds of roles that Patrick liked to play, he always liked to be the hero,” she said. “I always say, ‘You give him a sword, a cape and a horse, and he’s a happy man.’ But I tell you, when it came to fighting his illness, this disease, you really saw he… was a hero.”
Swayze was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in January 2008. He died in September 2009 after a “heartfelt, grueling, tough, determined fight for 22 months,” she said.
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Patrick Swayze attends The Beast Wrap – Party presented by Grey Goose Vodka at The Underground on November 23, 2008, in Chicago, Illinois. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January of that year.
(Photo by Barry Brecheisen/WireImage for Rockit Ranch Productions)
Niemi Swayze said she still remembers one particular day during her husband’s cancer battle when they were walking on their ranch in New Mexico. It’s a memory that has stayed etched in her mind over the years.
“It was a beautiful day and his eyes glistened, and he said, ‘I want to live,'” she recalled. “I know that everybody else out there that is dealing with this disease and their families feel exactly the same.”
Swayze first met his wife, a fellow Houston native, in one of his mother’s dance classes. They married in 1975 and remained together until his death. Niemi Swayze told the outlet that his fight against the disease brought out a side of him “he always wanted to be,” which was a “truly courageous, humble, loving, determined [and] strong” person.
“He had his moments,” she said. “But, of course, Patrick was always aware that he was the one who would pay the ultimate price. You know, it’s just not fair that he had to be taken so soon in life. I don’t want to see that happen to other people.”
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Lisa Niemi Swayze and Patrick Swayze were married from 1975. They remained together until the star’s death in 2009.
(Photo by Denise Truscello/WireImage)
“The only way we’re going to stop [pancreatic cancer] is by funding and research and better treatments and early detection,” she added.
In 2012, Niemi Swayze wrote a book titled “Worth Fighting For: Love, Loss and Moving Forward.” It details the couple’s final months together, her experience in being a caregiver and how she coped with grieving.
“As time goes on, it never goes away,” she said. “It’s kind of like a wound, and it heals over, but there’s always that scar. And it may not be as visible, but it’s always there, and you never know when it will raise its head again.”
The widow admitted this year was a difficult one. Aug. 18 would have been Swayze’s 70th birthday.
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Patrick Swayze would have turned 70 on Aug. 18.
(Photo by Lester Cohen/Getty Images)
“It all came back to me,” she explained. “But you know what? It resolves, and I’ve learned to take the good with the bad. And, you know, the bad parts are the price of having a wonderful, great love — and I’ll take that any day of the week. I’d do it all over again.”
Niemi Swayze hopes that her story will resonate with caregivers. She also encouraged those faced with the disease and their loved ones to “be brave together.” She described how it’s been a “great honor” to help raise awareness.
“Just because Patrick passed on… didn’t mean that fight was over, and I was carrying that on for him,” she said.
