Lakewood Church Pastor Joel Osteen’s mother has died, he announced on social media Wednesday. She was 91 years old.
Pastor Joel Osteen shared the news on Facebook, Instagram and X.
“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. She was the beloved matriarch of Lakewood Church, an inspiration to millions of people around the world, and a faithful servant of God. Known as ‘Mama Dodie’ to the entire Lakewood family, together, we celebrate her amazing life and lasting legacy. She passed of natural causes, peacefully at her home. She was 91 years old.”
Dodie, a Baytown native, was the widow of Lakewood co-founder John Osteen. Dodie and her husband, the late Pastor John Osteen, started Lakewood Church in 1959 and led it for four decades before their son, Joel Osteen, became senior pastor. Dodie’s husband, John Osteen, died in 1999 at age 77.
Lakewood Church was founded on Mother’s Day in 1959, with its first meeting held in a converted feed store on the outskirts of Houston.
Over the decades, Dodie became a well known figure to worshippers who attend church at Lakewood, located inside the 610 Loop along the Southwest Freeway. She handled intercessory prayer and funeral services at the church.
Dodie credited her faith with healing her through major health scares, including a bout of liver cancer, and even hosted a drive-by healing service outside the church.
Dodie inspired millions, especially with her story of how Jesus healed her metastatic liver cancer, which she was diagnosed with in 1981 at 48 years old, told by doctors at the time that she had just “a few weeks” to live. Her weight dipped to 84 pounds.
Dodie spent time learning scriptures to do with healing, from the Bible. And she wrote to each person who she had wounded and who had wounded her, asking for forgiveness. She was healed completely of cancer.
In her book, Healed of Cancer, published in 1986, Dodie said, “I am so thankful to be alive today and to bring you a message of hope! That is what Jesus is – Hope.”
“The Word of God is extremely important to people who are fighting a battle with their health, for often it’s the only hope they have,” she continued. “I know I would have died if it had not been for the Word of God.”
She spent 20 days in the hospital right before Christmas. Her doctor told her late husband, John, who died in 1999 at age 77, that there was nothing they could do for her, but she wound up defying her prognosis, beating the disease.
When she got out of the hospital, Doddie and John prayed together on the floor at the foot of their bed, with John asking the Lord to heal his wife from cancer. “That’s when I started praying for other people. That’s my life, is praying for people.”
Dodie, who had five children in her marriage with John, just turned 91 in October. And Pastor Joel shared his tribute:
“Every morning, she prays for all of her children, grandchildren, and each of their spouses and families. That’s over sixty people she calls by name. What a great example she is of prayer, faith, and keeping God first place. I’m very grateful to have such a Godly heritage, and I realise I’m reaping many of the seeds my parents have sown through the years.”
For her legacy, Doddie told her daughter that she wants to be remembered as a “woman of compassion” and that she “walked in love.” She also said she is frequently told by people that she is “like a mother to them” to so many. “I tell people, if you don’t have a mother, I’ll be your mother.”
“People love to be loved like that. They love to be told they’re loved. I think that’s the greatest thing.”
(Picture Courtesy: Instagram/Joel Osteen)
