BERNIE MAC PASSES

Actor/ comedian Bernie Mac passed on Saturday.

Bernie Mac’s wife and daughter were with him until the very end, says the sister-in-law. Mary Ann Grossett says that the night before Mac died, "He struggled for his life. He couldn't breathe. "He opened his eyes on his own and looked at Rhonda. She called his name, and he opened his eyes and nodded to her. She smiled at him and told him, 'Don't leave me … 'I'm waiting for you to come back.' He shrugged his shoulders, and she said that's when she knew he was tired. He signaled to her that his body was tired."

"They tried to resuscitate him two times. One time he came back for about an hour. Then he went into cardiac arrest the second time." Prior to that, the couple had last communicated on July 31. "He told his wife [non-verbally] that he could breathe on his own, and he wanted the ventilator out. He motioned that he wanted it out," says Grossett.

Despite stories to the contrary, Mary Ann maintains that Mac's inflammatory lung disease contributed to his death. "He had sarcoidosis, but it was in remission," she says. "But because he had it, his immune system was compromised. He had an infection ... He was on a new medication that suppresses the immune system, and that's where the pneumonia came from." She also revealed that Mac – having trouble breathing and running a fever – was actually hospitalized on July 24, eight days before the date given for his admittance. He was immediately diagnosed with pneumonia and immediately placed on a ventilator. "He was critically ill when he was in the hospital," says Mary Ann. "He was in intensive care the whole time." She adds that doctors kept the star sedated, although he was conscious at times and he contracted a second strain of pneumonia while in the hospital.

Mac’s funeral is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 16, at an undisclosed location. The family requests that donations be made to the Bernie Mac Foundation for Sarcoidosis, 40 E. Ninth St., Suite 601, Chicago IL 60605.