On Wednesday (July 30), Pastor Joel Osteen took to Facebook to announce the passing of his beloved mother, Dolores “Dodie” Osteen.

“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,” he wrote alongside a photo of himself with his mother. “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.”

Who Is Dodie Osteen?

Dodie Osteen and her husband, John Osteen, were married in 1954 and began having children in 1958. They founded Lakewood Church in 1959 in Houston, Texas in a “dusty, abandoned feed store.” It began as a Baptist church, but eventually became nondenominational from 1961-1979.

Dodie served as a senior pastor at Lakewood from 1959-1961 and from 1969-1999.

By 1972, Lakewood’s congregation had grown so much that they needed a five-thousand-seat church. In 1987, they began building an eight-thousand-seat sanctuary. From 1979-1999, the church was a Pentecostal church and in 1999, it also started teaching the Word of Faith movement simultaneously.

John hosted a television program for 16 years and his sermons were broadcast to millions of people all over the United States and 50 countries. He passed away in 1999, and his youngest son, Joel Osteen, took over and continued to grow the church into a massive church that boasts a 52,000 weekly in-person attendance and millions more online.

Dodie was an inspiration to many, and publicly shared her cancer battle in 1981 after being told she only had a few weeks to live.

She has shared her testimony time and time again through books, interviews, and sermons, crediting Jesus for healing her and allowing her to live for 44 more years.

Dodie is survived by her children Lisa, Paul, Joel, Tamara, April, and Justin.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Osteen family during this difficult time.

Watch a video of Dodie talking about her healing journey below.