Another star has fallen from the sky.

Florence Henderson was everybody’s mom when she played the congenial and perky Carol Brady on the popular show the “Brady Bunch” during the 1960s and during the 1970s. Today we say “goodbye” to Henderson who passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 82 from heart failure.

How did Henderson and Carol Brady become one?

Henderson was filming a movie in Norway when the opportunity to appear in the “Brady Bunch” pilot was offered in 1969.  She was also a soprano on Broadway and stared in musicals like “The King and I,” “South Pacific,” “The Sound of Music” and “Fanny” before securing her role in television history. Henderson was the first female guest on “The Tonight Show.” She made appearances on “The Love Boat” “30 Rock,” and was on “Dancing With the Stars” in 2010 after the “Brady Bunch” was cancelled in 1974.

The matriarch of the blended fictional family was often criticized for the show’s plots that were wonderfully cheesy and simple. “It was really a show that was seen through the eyes of a child. It was supposed to have a little soft glow about it.” However, Henderson wanted her character to be more than a stay-at-home mom on the sitcom.  She told “The HuffPost Show” in 2015 that she urged the writers to change the script and to allow Carol to have a career. The reason was Henderson was a working mom with 4 kids. “I begged for a job, because I’ve been a working mother. I have four children. They said ‘No, you can’t.’ So when we started having all of the reunions, I said, ‘I will not come back unless you give me a job. So you know what they made me? A real estate agent!”

We never did know what happened to Carol’s husband before she married Mike Brandy as it was a mystery for years. Did she kill him? Did he leave her and the 3 girls? We almost found out in 1996 on “A Very Brady Sequel” when a man claimed to be her lost husband showed up, but he was a fraud. She later joked that she actually killed her first husband. Christopher Knight played Peter Brady told “Entertainment Tonight” that his television mom was very cool.

“There was one show where we were in the backyard with our mitts and throwing the ball around, and she was dressed like she was ready to play with us, and I think it was at that point I thought she was really cool. She could be one of the guys and very much like mom, like a mom you’d want to have, and America has responded to [her] in the same way.”

Henderson was born in 1934 and was raised a Roman Catholic. She was the youngest of 10 children. The New York Times reported that her father was a sharecropper and the children cleaned other people’s homes for groceries.

Her tough childhood did not harden her heart as Knight described Henderson as a warm person.  “She, to me, was just someone I never wanted to disappoint,” Knight explained. “I admired her so much and respected her as a child… and I’ve lived like that ever since.”

Barry Williams played Greg Brady Tweeted that he was deeply saddened to hear the news of the television icon.

“Deeply saddened,” he wrote. “Florence was one of the most gracious people I have ever known, Proud to call her Mom and lifelong friend #RIPFlorence.”

Henderson was last seen on Dancing With the Stars to support Maureen McCormick (Marsha Brady) competition on the Nov. 21. “You were fabulous,” Henderson told McCormick after her performance. “I’m so proud.”

“Florence Henderson was a dear friend for so very many years & in my <3 forever. Love & hugs to her family. I’ll miss u dearly #RIPFlorence,” McCormick Tweeted.

How did she want to be remembered?  “Probably as someone who survived for a long time in a very tough business and, hopefully, managed to retain a sense of humanity,” she said in 1999.

She leaves 4 children and 5 grandchildren behind.

No one will forget the mother who captivated us and who will continue to mother another generation through syndication.

We say “So long” to another star that has fallen from the sky.