Evangelist Tammy Faye Messner died on Friday morning of inoperable cancer, CNN's Larry King announced on Saturday night, after her family asked him to personally make the delayed statement. She was 65.
Messner had appeared as a guest on Larry King Live on Thursday, looking frighteningly thin, revealing that she could no longer swallow food and had dwindled down to a mere 65 lbs.
"She had a very peaceful death and is no longer in pain," Messner's son Jay Bakker said Saturday in a statement on his Web site. "To grant her wish she was cremated today and her ashes were buried at a private ceremony."
Added Bakker: "Thank you to everyone for their prayers and support over the years – it has helped me more than you will ever know. Please continue to pray for her husband Roe as well as the rest of my family."
Messner's ex-husband Jim Bakker also released a statement Saturday, saying, "Our family is deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Tammy Faye. She lived her life like the song she sang, 'If Life Hands You a Lemon, Make Lemonade.' "
King said a public ceremony is being planned. "She wanted a party," he said, according to CNN. "They're going to schedule a party in two to three weeks in Palm Springs, Calif. Her friends will be invited. And she wanted it to be a celebration."
Messner underwent surgery for colon cancer in 1993 and revealed in 2004 that the disease had spread. By 2007, she revealed that her cancer was no longer treatable.
Asked by King what she would most like to be remembered for, Messner jokingly replied, "well, my eyelashes." Asked if she had a message for her fans, she replied: "I'd like to say that I genuinely love you, and I genuinely care, and I genuinely want to see you in heaven some day. I want you to find peace. I want you
to find joy."
source:People Magazine
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