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The mother of televangelist Joel Osteen and one of the Lakewood megachurch founders has died at the age of 91.
“It is with a heavy heart that Victoria and I, along with our family, announce the passing of our cherished mother and grandmother, Dolores ‘Dodie’ Osteen,” Osteen wrote on X Wednesday.
‘Dodie’ Osteen was cherished by followers as a matriarch of Lakewood Church, Houston – one of the largest evangelical churches in the U.S. that boasts millions of Christian followers worldwide.
“Known as ‘Mama Dodie’ to the entire Lakewood family, together, we celebrate her amazing life and lasting legacy,” Osteen’s statement continued.
Osteen said that his mother died of natural causes. In 1981, ‘Dodie’ was diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer, which doctors said was terminal, according to the family. She was given this week to live, according to a 2020 Washington Times feature. ‘Dodie’ said that she and her husband, John Osteen, both rejected the prognosis and turned to prayer.
Her late husband, a former Southern Baptist pastor, founded Lakewood in the back of an old feed store in 1959. He hosted his weekly John Osteen television program for 16 years, laying the foundations for what was to become one of the most popular evangelical churches in the world.
John died in January 1999 at the age of 77, paving the way for his youngest son to become the senior pastor. Osteen took the opportunity to rapidly expand his father’s church.
Since then, Osteen has become a prevalent figure in American life and Christianity worldwide.
Last month, Osteen was faced with the news that Texas authorities were reopening an investigation into the murder of his elderly great-aunt, who was found bludgeoned to death inside her home nearly 20 years ago.
Johnnie Daniel, 84, was found beaten to death inside her home in August 2006 with her face smashed and a copy of the New Testament and a pencil on her chest. A hammer was also found wrapped in a bloody towel beside Daniel, who was the aunt of Dodie Osteen.
Back in 2006, authorities charged a then-29-year-old Houston man, Edric Wilson, with Daniel’s murder. At the time DNA evidence linked him to Daniel’s killing, Wilson was already in custody on a separate aggravated assault charge.
Meanwhile, in February, Osteen’s megachurch in Houston was targeted by a gunman who opened fire, injuring a 57-year-old man and wounding a seven-year-old boy, believed to be her son.
The shooter, identified as 36-year-old Genesse Ivonne Moreno, was heard threatening to “blow up” the church, police said.
The Lakewood franchise has attracted big names in the past, including controversial rapper Kanye West, who brought his “Sunday Service” to the Osteen megachurch in 2019.
“I know that God’s been calling me for a long time and the devil’s been distracting me for a long time,” he said before a crowd of about 17,000 at Osteen’s church, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“Ye” has since faced severe criticism after expressing far-right views online and has been accused of glorifying Hitler and Nazism in this latest music.
