Hallmark star Noel Johansen was married to Jen Darbellay until her sudden death at age 50.
Darbellay was one of the 11 people who were killed in Vancouver’s Lapu-Lapu festival tragedy in April 2025. The couple attended the event together, which celebrated Filipino figure Datu Lapu-Lapu, when a man drove an SUV through the crowd.
“What you see here is an injury that means nothing to me because what’s inside my heart is broken,” Johansen, using crutches, said during a candlelight vigil held days later. “Because my wife passed away behind me at the incident.”
He added, “She never celebrated herself in her life. She never thought of herself; she thought of herself as small in terms of the reach.”
While Johansen and Darbellay kept much of their relationship private, she was especially supportive of his acting career.
“So proud of @noeljohansen,” Darbellay, who worked as a painter, wrote via Instagram in July 2017, sharing a poster from Johansen’s show Somewhere Between. “[He worked] with #amazingcastandcrew like @paulapatton.”
Keep scrolling to revisit Johansen and Darbellay’s relationship journey:
2010
The couple’s eldest child, son Ford, was born in 2010.
2018
Eight years later, Johansen and Darbellay welcomed daughter Darcy into their family.
“Happy Father’s Day @noeljohansen — we ❤️ you to the 🌙 and back💋💋💋,” Darbellay gushed via Instagram that June. “Thank you for the way you love us. It is an exceptional feeling to live in and we are so lucky #ourhero #legendarydada #bestdaddyaward🏆.”
October 2023
Darbellay shared a rare selfie with Johansen to celebrate their anniversary.
“Happy Anniversary to this guy,” she wrote via Instagram, noting they had been together for “lots of years.”
Darbellay also included hashtags for “Makes Me Laugh,” “Makes Me Nuts,” “Hardworking Artist,” “Danced Till My Feet Hurt” and “We Have the Best Friends.”
April 2025
The family of four attended the Lapu-Lapu Festival in Vancouver, where Johansen and Darcy were both injured when a car plowed through the crowd. Darbellay, meanwhile, was among the 11 who died.
“She was larger than life for any of you who know her,” Johansen recalled during a vigil held for the victims. “So don’t be small in life, be big, reach out and reach out as a human being with everything you have, and please remember us who went through this.”
A GoFundMe campaign set up by a family friend noted that the actor was navigating an “incredibly difficult time” in the wake of Darbellay’s death.
“Moving forward with his life is going to feel insurmountable,” a fundraiser description read. “I know that his work will undoubtedly be affected, and I would really like for him and his family to be supported during this time. There will be many costs, including airfare for immediate family, food, child care, counseling, funeral expenses, etc. Jen was a one-of-a-kind. She was an incredibly thoughtful, warm, caring, smart, stylish, artistic woman. A gifted painter, a selfless mother and a loving wife.”
