News / People
Tammy Faye Messner Dies at 65
Tammy Faye Messner, the one time wife of disgraced evangelist Jim Bakker, died on Friday after battling cancer for more than ten years. She was 65.
Doctors had stopped treating the cancer back in May after it spread from her colon to her lungs. At the time of her death she weighed just 65 years-old.
In 1992 Tammy Faye divorced her husband of 30 years Jim Bakker while he was serving his prison sentence for embezzling millions of dollars from the PTL, “Praise the Lord” ministries they founded.
By 1993 Tammy Faye had married Roe Messner, a chief builder for the Heritage USA Christian theme park envisioned by Jim Bakker. Messner would eventually spend time in prison as well after being convicted of bank fraud.
During an interview with Larry King in 2004 Tammy Faye revealed that she had lung cancer and would be undergoing chemotherapy. By the end of the year she had announced that she was cancer free. Within six months the cancer had returned and she continued with treatment. In May 2007 Tammy Faye announced that she would no longer be undergoing treatment.
