Was there a episode where Valerie dies? Or they just start with Sandy.
What was the first episode without Valerie?. I know on Mama's Family her sister died.Bubba came to live with them. offtopic: I just thought there would be one where the boys and their dad came back from the funeral and Sandy was in the kitchen when they got home.

They just start with Sandy. The season 3 opener titled "Moving On" is the first episode without Valerie.

It can be viewed here...
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6f0lab

It's now up on YouTube (https://youtu.be/w1YipmKNM04) in case you're wondering. I thought that Jason Bateman's "It’s been six months since Mom died.” line at the start was kind of terrible. I'm not necessarily holding it directly against Jason since he didn't write the script nor was he directing the episode. But it seemed to be a rather nonchalant, casual, and throw-away form of exposition to explain why Valerie Harper's character wasn't going to be around anymore.