The actor mourned the loss of his onscreen sister who died on Aug. 22.

Shelley Fabares remembered by *Donna Reed Show *brother Paul Petersen: ‘I will miss you forever’

The actor mourned the loss of his onscreen sister who died on Aug. 22.

By Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino is a writer at *. *She has written for * *since 2025. Her work has appeared in NBC News, Vulture, GQ, and InStyle.

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August 29, 2026 12:01 p.m. ET

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Paul Petersen and Shelley Fabares on ‘The Donna Reed Show’ in 1961. Credit:

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

- Paul Petersen, who played Shelley Fabares’ brother on *The Donna Reed Show*, paid tribute to the late actress.

- Fabares died from pneumonia at the age of 82 on Aug. 22.

- Petersen remembered Fabares as his “sister” and called her death “a loss for us all.”

*The Donna Reed Show* actor Paul Petersen is paying tribute to his TV sister Shelley Fabares.

Fabares died on Aug. 22 at the age of 82 from pneumonia. As a teen, she had her breakout role in *The Donna Reed Show* as Mary Stone, daughter to Donna (Donna Reed) and Alex (Carl Betz), as well as sister to Jeff (Petersen).

“Shelley Fabares #3 sister,” Petersen shared via his nonprofit A Minor Consideration’s Facebook page on Tuesday. “I love you dearly and admired your talents. A loss for all of us. I will miss you forever.”

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* *reached out to representatives for Petersen but did not immediately hear back.

In the decades following *The Donna Reed Show*, which ran for eight seasons from 1958 to 1966, the onscreen siblings remained close. Before her death, Fabares shared insight into her relationships with her castmates, noting that they had an actual family dynamic.

“Paul was my brother and I mean we fought like brother and sister all the time,” she told the *That’s Classic! *podcast in January 2025. “And it was ... such an intense experience doing it for so many years.”

Paul Petersen and Shelley Fabares on ‘The Donna Reed Show’ in 1965.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Fabares shared that the cast maintained their close bond after the show ended by setting up regular lunch dates.

“The show stopped filming but the four of us still talked to each other and made a date once a month,” she recalled. “So we went and met at this one restaurant and we went and we had, you know, tales to tell and it was wonderful.”

The *Coach** *actress was remembered by loved ones after her death, with her family calling her a “source of love, strength, laughter, and comfort.” She is survived by her husband and *M*A*S*H *star Mike Farrell and her two stepchildren.

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Paul Petersen and Shelley Fabares attend the Actors Fund’s 2016 Looking Ahead Awards.

Jennifer Lourie/Getty

“She was a devoted wife, cherished stepmother, daughter, sister, niece, aunt, family member, and loyal friend whose warmth, generosity, humor, and grace made an enduring difference in the lives of everyone who knew her,” the family said in a statement, per *PEOPLE**. “*She had a remarkable ability to make people feel welcomed, valued, and cared for.”

Her *Coach *costar and onscreen love interest Craig T. Nelson also paid tribute to her, calling her “extraordinary.”

“Shelley was a great and grand lady… just a rock. I will miss her,” Nelson wrote in a statement to **. “She was a foundational part of my life during the run of *Coach*.”

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