How did the Plath family lose a child? What happened to Joshua Plath? The Plath family, who star on TLC’s Welcome to Plathville, were a family of 12 until the tragic death of Kim Plath and Barry Plath’s youngest son in 2008.
If you’re looking to fill the void that the cancelation of the Duggar’s Counting On left behind, then Welcome to Plathville should be right up your alley. Welcome to Plathville follows couple Kim and Barry and their nine children whom they raised on their small Georgia farm. The family is very religious and anti-tech, which has naturally piqued the interest of viewers. The series is meant to be a look into the small-town Southern farm life, but it’s more outrageous than it sounds.
Welcome to Plathville is currently in the middle of its fourth season, and as the family has grown on the small screen over the years, fans are still saddened by the news of Kim and Barry’s son, Joshua, death. Even though the family of 11 seems to be living a happy life, memories of Joshua are always in the back of their minds. So, how did Joshua Plath pass away? Here’s everything that you need to know.
The Plath family’s son Joshua died in a farming accident in Fall 2008.
The pain of losing a child is unbearable, and the Plathville family has been coping with losing Joshua for quite some time. Kim recalled Joshua’s death in vivid detail on the family’s now-deleted website (which is currently accessible via the Wayback Machine).
Tragically, while Kim was doing some work on the farm, replanting some trees, she accidentally ran over their then-17-month-old son, subsequently killing him.
“In the fall of 2008, I was transplanting fruit trees with our Suburban, pregnant with our eighth child,” Kim details on the family website. “I looked for our 17-month-old Joshua, saw that he was away from the vehicle, then pulled forward to get the next tree. In a panic, I realized what had happened. I ran over our Joshua.”
Joshua’s death was ruled to be an accident, meaning Kim faced no legal repercussions for the death.
In a 2020 episode of the podcast Reality Life With Kate Casey, Ethan and Olivia Plath discussed the effect Joshua’s death had on the family. Ethan, who was 10 years old at the time of the accident, said that the family wasn’t allowed to mention Joshua for several months following his death.
“[After] the accident happened, my mom had a really hard time with it. She was like suicidal, wanted to kill herself, and … no one could say his name or anything, no one could talk about it,” he said. “Eventually, I guess she kind of got over it, after like six months or something, and then all of us just never talked about it again. It was just something that we didn’t talk about it.”
Olivia chimed in with some additional information regarding how many people in conservative Christian circles tend to deal with mental health issues. “There’s this concept that depression and mental health is not a ‘real thing,’ and that if you have a good enough relationship with the lord, then he takes care of that for you,” she said.
Kim seems to align with this thinking somewhat. On the family website, she wrote: “Mother’s day weekend, God healed me. I can’t explain it other than He re-wrote the bad coding in my brain. He took the ruts in my brain that had been running that same movie in my mind and filled them with His Spirit. The movie stopped. I wanted to live again. I was with my family again. I could hear Joshua’s name and I could talk about him again.”
‘Welcome to Plathville’ Season 4 has definitely been a change of pace for devoted viewers
It’s no secret that the Plaths are devoutly Christian and adhere to a specific standard of living. However, Season 4 has shaken things up — what was once the entire Plath clan living under one roof has now completely changed.
Kim and Barry have remained in Georgia with the little ones, but the older Plath children have ventured out on their own. Ethan, Olivia, and Moriah lived in Tampa, Fla. throughout the filming of Season 4, and Micah went back and forth between visiting Tampa and couch surfing in Los Angeles.
In perhaps the biggest family shake-up, Kim and Barry’s marriage is shown to be on the rocks throughout Season 4. They are separated throughout the season, and they announced in June of 2022 that they are getting divorced after 24 years of marriage.
Catch new episodes of Welcome to Plathville Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST on TLC.
If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
FAQs
What religion is the Plathville family?
The Plath family are Christian fundamentalists and are very similar to TLC’s Duggar family. Kim and Barry have also been linked to No Greater Joy Ministries. This particular church is known to be a controversial Christian fundamentalist organization to which the Duggars have also been linked (via Distractify).
Is the Plath family rich?
Kim and Barry Plath are the parents of the famous blonde-haired, blue-eyed family unit. As of now, details about how much money they earn per episode of Welcome to Plathville haven’t been revealed, but we do know that they have an estimated net worth of around $3 million according to Movie Spotify.
How do the Plaths make money?
Along with their earned income and their reality TV money, Barry and Kim also make money by renting out their farmhouse, which sits on 55 acres, on Airbnb, according to CheatSheet.
What do the Plath family do for a living?
Barry Plath is all about family and religion
While Kim is a naturopathic doctor, Barry is a transportation planner who’s held his job for “the same private firm for over 25 years.” (This likely means Barry has to use a computer for work, even though his kids are largely banned from doing the same.)
Where are the Plath family now?
They’re Temporarily Living in Paris! The world was introduced to Ethan and Olivia Plath on Welcome to Plathville, a TLC series that follows a large family raised in an insular community in rural Georgia.
Is Plathville a true story?
As is the case with most reality shows, we know not everything we see on Welcome to Plathville is 100 percent real, according to TheList.
Why are the Plaths famous?
The Plath family tried to get famous before Welcome to Plathville, as Kim and Barry coerced their kids into forming a Plath family band. They still have their The Plath Family YouTube channel, where they shared videos of the family singing gospel songs.
How many kids did Plath family have?
It’s a Plath world! Welcome to Plathville introduced viewers to Barry and Kim Plath and their nine children when the reality show premiered on TLC in November 2019.
Are the Plathville parents still married?
We have been through many highs and lows in our 24 years of marriage and as we navigate this new chapter in our lives, we will co-parent our amazing children.” Kim and Barry’s marriage has been a storyline on season 4 of Welcome to Plathville — including their decisions to separate and live apart.
What Plathville child died?
What happened to Joshua Plath? The Plath family, who star on TLC’s Welcome to Plathville, were a family of 12 until the tragic death of Kim Plath and Barry Plath’s youngest son in 2008. Joshua was only a toddler when he died during a terrible accident at the brood’s home in Cairo, Georgia.
