When Sherrod Brown mourned actor Luke Perry on Monday, it wasn’t as a typical fan. The senator’s father was the one who brought the heartthrob into the world.

“His father was my doctor for the first 12 years of my life … he taught me about patience and compassion. He taught me how to sew myself up,” Perry said at the rally.

Brown returned the compliment.

“About a week and a half before [my father] died, he got a call from Luke Perry … he just called to see how my dad was doing and to thank him for his taking care of him as a child,” Brown said at the time.

Perry, 52, suffered a stroke last week and died Monday. He starred in the popular teen dramas “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Riverdale.”

“Luke Perry represented what makes our state great — generosity, humility, and a fighting spirit. Connie and I join the Mansfield and Fredericktown communities in offering our deep sympathies to Luke’s family and friends on their loss,” Brown said Monday in a statement.

He also took to Twitter to offer his condolences. Perry was a “warm, kind person who made his home state proud,” Brown tweeted.

Very saddened by this loss. Luke Perry was not only a talented actor—but a warm, kind person who made his home state proud. My thoughts are with his friends, family, and loved ones. https://t.co/MuSHhLsWOA

— Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) March 4, 2019

The elder Brown died in 2000. He was small-town doctor in Mansfield, Ohio, and a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during World War II.

The younger Brown is fresh off a tour of early-primary states and will decide in the “next few days” if he is going to run for president, his wife told the Cincinnati Enquirer.