BOSTON (AP) — The father of Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Scott Brown has died.

The senator announced that 75-year-old C. Bruce Brown of Newburyport died Thursday after battling Parkinson’s disease for years. During the past year he had been either hospitalized or in an assisted living facility.

Sen. Brown has written about what he called his complicated relationship with his father. Brown’s parents divorced when he was young and his father was largely absent in Brown’s life when he was growing up.

Brown said as the two matured, their respect and love for each other also matured.

He described his father as “a good man with a big heart” and said he’ll miss his guidance and sense of humor. He said his wife and two daughters were also thankful for his father’s wife Peggy and her family.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.