Stephen Chernin/Getty ImagesMartha Stewart is grieving the loss of her beloved sister, Laura Plimpton.
In a blog post published Wednesday morning, the lifestyle expert confirmed that her 59-year-old sister died this week following a massive brain aneurysm. (Per the Daily Mail, the death was first announced Tuesday in an email sent to staff at Stewart's lifestyle company where Plimpton worked for more than 25 years.)
"My youngest sister, and the youngest of the six Kostyra siblings, Laura Kostyra Plimpton, passed away today in Norwalk Hospital," Stewart wrote on The Martha Blog. "She was an extraordinary employee, mother, wife and sister."
Although Plimpton suffered an aneurysm Monday, Stewart explained she "left a living will so she was kept on life support until today so her three children could say their goodbyes, and the testing could be completed for organ donation. We are so sad but also happy that Laura had the foresight to donate so many healthy organs to needy people."
The sisters were particularly close. Back in 2004, Plimpton told Larry King in a CNN interview, "All I wanted to do was be around her, her husband, and then when Alexis was born, I just wanted to take care of Alexis...I would pack my little suitcase and go every weekend, practically, just to be with Martha."
A rep for Stewart asked "for the media's respect and privacy at this time while Martha and her family mourn their loss." On her blog, she wrote, "Please keep her [Plimpton] husband Randy and her three children,and two children in law, Christopher Herbert, Sophie Herbert Slater and Charlie Plimpton, and Tim Long and Dan Slater, in your thoughts."
—Additional reporting by Holly Passalaqua
(Originally published Aug. 5, 2014 at 6:23 p.m. PT)