Televangelist Joel Osteen, 62, Suffers Devastating Loss
Joel Osteen is mourning the death of his mother.
The 62-year-old televangelist announced his mom's death via Instagram on Wednesday, July 30, alongside a photo of the two of them smiling. Speaking on behalf of himself and wife Victoria Osteen, Joel wrote:
"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," he penned.
"She was the beloved matriarch of Lakewood Church, an inspiration to millions of people around the world, and a faithful servant of God," the preacher continued. "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."
The photo Joel posted shows the mother-son duo showing off their trademark megawatt smiles, with Dolores holding a red rose in her hand.
Dolores and late husband John Osteen, Joel's father, co-founded Lakewood Church, the Houston megachurch where Joel — following in his fathers' footsteps — has been preaching for decades. The couple famously hosted their own television show, named after the Osteen patriarch, for 16 years before John's death in 1999.
Dolores' death comes a year and a half after Lakewood was rocked by tragedy when a 36-year-old woman opened fire in the church before being swiftly shot and killed by police in self-defense. It was an incident that wounded both a male patron and the woman's 7-year-old son, who was shot in the head, per CNN. Both the man and the child survived.
Televangelist Joel Osteen, 62, Suffers Devastating Loss first appeared on Parade on Aug 1, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
Solve the daily Crossword
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
20 minutes ago
- Fox News
Illegal migrant with DUI rap sheet facing vehicular homicide charges after head-on crash kills mom, daughter
An illegal migrant with a DUI rap sheet only to be released back into the community of a blue state is accused of causing a crash in Lakewood, New Jersey, killing a mother and her 11-year-old daughter. The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said 43-year-old Raul Luna-Perez of Mexico was arrested and charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and assault by auto in connection with a July 26 motor vehicle crash, and now has a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged against him. In a news release, ICE said that this was not Luna-Perez's first run-in with the law. He was arrested twice on charges of DUI in March and April of this year, and in June 2023 he was arrested for simple domestic violence. In Luna-Perez's latest alleged incident, which turned deadly, officers with the Lakewood Township Police Department responded to reports of a crash just before 11:30 p.m. on July 26. A preliminary investigation found that Luna-Perez was allegedly driving a Dodge Durango with two passengers inside, when he crossed into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on with a Nissan Sentra. The Nissan was being driven by a woman who was pronounced dead at the scene, the prosecutor's office said. Seated in the front passenger seat was an 11-year-old girl – identified by ICE as the woman's daughter – who was taken to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, where she ultimately died of her injuries. Another 11-year-old girl was seated in the back of the Sentra, and she was taken to Monmouth Medical Center and was listed in serious but stable condition, the prosecutor's office added. The two passengers in Luna-Perez's vehicle were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and released. The prosecutor's office added that the first responders reported that Luna-Perez showed signs of impairment. He was transported to an area hospital, where his blood was drawn pursuant to a court-authorized warrant. ICE lodged a detainer against Luna-Perez on Monday, and has initiated removal proceedings while Luna-Perez remains in custody. Luna-Perez entered the U.S. illegally on an unknown date, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ICE blamed New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy's sanctuary policies for allowing Luna-Perez to be released into American communities. "Governor Murphy and his sanctuary policies released this serial criminal into New Jersey communities," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. "Now, this innocent family is shattered by their failed leadership. "President Trump and Secretary Noem will continue to do everything in their power to remove these criminal illegal aliens before they destroy more lives."
Buzz Feed
5 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Top Industries That Attract 'Terrible' People
If you've ever wondered if other people perceive your job negatively, this post is for you. In one Reddit thread (which you can see here), people discussed the career fields they think have the most "terrible" people, and there were some very interesting takes. I've rounded up 18 different answers – let's see if your industry made this list: "I think, while not all people in Human Resources are terrible, the field does attract the kind of people who are looking to lord it over others. Busybodies, gossips, insecure people who let a little bit of power go to their heads." "HOA Management. Almost cost me my sanity. Thank goodness I left that field." "Spammers and scammers." –Express_Gas2416 "Cops. Even most of my buddies who were good guys before becoming cops became douchebags." "Nurses are either the sweetest people on earth or the devil." "Fitness, especially those who think they are 'influencers.' Bunch of narcissists and fake personas." –Superb-Attitude9606 "Anti-union consultants." "I used to work in meteorology, and while I met some good people in the field, I met A LOT of condescending assholes. That's a big reason why I no longer work in that field. It was taking a huge toll on my mental health." "For a year, I worked in loan sales (predatory max-interest loans targeting people who can't get loans anywhere else), and about 75% of my job was collecting. Skip tracing, digging through their social media, calling family members, etc. They wanted me to take over my own branch, and the money would have been great. I just could not do it." "Paparazzi." –Gizm00 "My mom was a home nurse who was also sometimes sent to do elderly care at aged care facilities. She would frequently get upset at both some of the staff and some of the management because of how badly some elders were treated." "Corrections officers. A lot of them are narcissistic predators, especially in my experience as a former CO who worked in 2 different maximum-security state prisons." "Marketing. I've been working in the industry for more than a decade, have had roles all around the world, and the overwhelming majority of people I've worked with have been immature, insecure, conceited, irascible, narcissistic, antagonistic, and, above all, pathologically self-absorbed. An absolute nightmare to be around." "That girl from high school who slides in your DMs on Instagram with the 'hey girly!' trying to sell you her fit tea." "Surgeons. I say this as someone who wants to be one. You need the perfect mix of insanity and egomania even to think you'll make it there, and the prestige of the career only further attracts those people." "The money only adds to it, as does the reaction when you tell others what you do. I'd say the douchebaggery of a surgeon is 40% learned from the pressure and abuse of academia/training, 20% internal ego, 10% how others treat them, and maybe 30% totally justified."–RegionEducational366 "Real estate. Narcissism runs rampant." "Lawyer here. We're a bunch of pretentious assholes who really like to argue about minutia and get paid to do it. Here's a dirty secret: half of the time, we don't actually agree with our client. But since they pay us to argue for them, argue we will!" And finally, "Entertainment industry. Far too many stories of rich people with too much power subjecting young and weak individuals at the bottom of the barrel to sexual harassment and promising success based on lies and promises that they don't intend to keep." What else belongs on this list? Let me know in the comments!
CNN
9 hours ago
- CNN
The Manhattan shooter had a previous arrest and 2 psychiatric holds, sources say. How was he able to own a gun?
New York City's deadliest shooting in 25 years – in a state with some of the toughest gun laws in the nation – is raising questions about how a gunman with a history of mental health issues was able to obtain multiple firearms and drive undetected across several states to carry out the attack. The gunman who walked into a Midtown Manhattan office building on Monday, M4 assault-style rifle in hand, and sprayed it with gunfire, had a license to carry a concealed weapon in his home state of Nevada, officials said. He also had been placed on psychiatric hold in 2022 and 2024, law enforcement sources told CNN. But that may not have necessarily prohibited him from obtaining his license in 2022 or buying firearms – depending on the circumstances of the holds, according to gun law experts. Shane Devon Tamura, 27, of Las Vegas, killed four people at the 345 Park Avenue office building and injured another before he died by suicide, police said. While public health experts continue to stress that the vast majority of people experiencing mental health challenges are not violent, questions remain about the details of Tamura's psychiatric holds and if they would have shown up in a background check. The case underscores the wide gap in sharing mental health data with the federal government – an issue that can be attributed to inadequate funding to manage or require the data, as well as privacy issues, according to Thomas Chittum, former associate deputy director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Tamura had 'a documented mental health history,' according to New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch, and a previous run-in with law enforcement. Tamura was arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing in 2023 in Clark County, Nevada, after he refused to leave a Las Vegas casino after attempting to cash out about $5,000, according to a police incident report. A court database suggests a district attorney declined to pursue the case, meaning the incident wouldn't have prevented him from obtaining a gun. The case also throws private gun sales under the microscope. The AR-15 style weapon used in the shooting was legally purchased last year by the gunman's supervisor at the Vegas casino where he worked, two law enforcement officials told CNN. The supervisor then assembled it and sold it to Tamura for $1,400, the officials said, citing an interview with the supervisor who is cooperating with authorities. It's not yet clear whether the private sale between Tamura and the supervisor involved a background check. But the supervisor, who has not been named by authorities, could face legal jeopardy if the investigation reveals the firearm transfer took place in Nevada and the private sale didn't follow a state law requiring background checks for private sales, according to Warren Eller, gun violence expert and associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. As police work to uncover a motive behind the shooting, investigators are digging into Tamura's history and examining are how he obtained multiple firearms and made his way from Las Vegas to New York City with the assault rifle. A search of the gunman's car turned up a host of items, including additional ammunition, another loaded weapon, headphones potentially used for target practice, two cell phones, the antidepressant Zoloft and cannabis, a law enforcement source told CNN. A note found in the gunman's pocket claimed he had CTE, a disease linked to head trauma, one that's often associated with football players, a source told CNN. New York City's chief medical examiner's office will test Tamura's remains for CTE, an office spokesperson told CNN Tuesday. The only way to diagnose the disease is through an autopsy of the brain. As for the psychiatric holds, it's difficult to say without knowing the details whether they would have shown up in a background check or prevented Tamura from purchasing weapons, experts say. 'If you were on a 48-hour hold, if you were released at the end of that, it would not affect your ability to possess firearms under federal law,' Chittum said. Most states barely touch on the area of mental health when a person applies for a gun license due to concerns over privacy issues and stigmatizing people who have mental health issues, according to Eller. One concern, for example, is soldiers who struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, might be reluctant to seek help because they fear their treatment history would deprive them of possessing firearms. 'Between the lack of funding to make sure the background check system is effective for those problems and the legal hang ups with advocacy groups who will challenge this, that's a long road ahead,' Eller said. There's a concerted effort by veterans' groups and advocacy organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union to fight against the sharing of mental health records with the National Crime Information Center and local law enforcement, which most states rely on for background checks, according to Eller. 'Groups have been combating that because simply being mentally ill doesn't mean you're mentally incompetent, nor does it mean you're a danger,' he added. However, in cases where a person was declared incompetent by a court, faced a restraining order, involuntarily committed or deemed a danger to themselves or others due to a mental illness, the federal government restricts firearm ownership and states largely follow federal law with some variations, according to Chittum. 'Even when we have someone who has a mental health issue that prohibits them under the law, the next question is whether the background check identifies that. Historically, mental health records have been some of the hardest for FBI to obtain when doing background checks,' Chittum said, adding there have been efforts to improve the availability of those records in some legislation. As New York homicide detectives work to piece together a timeline of events leading up to the deadly Manhattan attack, the way Tamura obtained the high-powered M4 rifle from an associate and whether Nevada's background check laws were violated will likely come under scrutiny. In Nevada, the private sale of a firearm between two parties requires a federal background check before the transfer is complete. Both individuals must go to a federally licensed firearm dealer, which conducts the background check on their behalf. There are limited exceptions, including firearm transfers between immediate family members, which do not require this process. If the private sale between Tamura and the supervisor did abide by the law and the facts can't prove the supervisor had any knowledge of possible disqualifiers in Tamura's history, including intended use of the firearm, then the seller likely won't be prosecuted, according to Eller and Chittum. Federal law doesn't impose any obligation on private gun sellers to identify the buyer, conduct a background check or keep any record of the sale, Chittum said. The Nevada law enforcing background checks for private sales was implemented in January 2020, closing the so-called 'gun show loophole' that gun safety advocates have long criticized as a means for bypassing records checks that can flag past criminal history. Most states conduct background checks through federally licensed dealers relying on the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), while some states like Nevada have a designated 'point of contact' system that offers access to state criminal history records. Under federal law, an unlicensed person buying a firearm directly from a gun dealer must also undergo a background check, however, those who already have a concealed carry permit – like Tamura had – may be exempt because they would have already undergone a background check to get the permit. Hours after the shooting in Manhattan, Las Vegas Police Crimestoppers received a tip from a licensed firearms dealer saying he remembered Tamura sought to buy an aftermarket trigger assembly for an M4 rifle at a Las Vegas gun show in June, a senior law enforcement official told CNN. Tamura returned the trigger assembly the next day, saying he needed the money back to buy 500 rounds of .223 ammunition – the same kind of ammunition used in the New York shooting, according to the official. The gun dealer told police Tamura came back the next day with additional funds and re-purchased the trigger assembly, the official said. Tamura's case calls attention to the 'gray area' in the federal regulation and enforcement of private sales that exists when people buy firearms for cash in a private sale, according to Eller. Because a concealed carry permit would exempt an individual for five years from a background check when buying a firearm from a licensed dealer, it creates a 'nuanced area' where a person could obtain a license to carry and then subsequently be convicted or have a mental health prohibitor and might still be able to use their card to purchase a firearm and avoid the background check, Chittum said. Some states recognize this issue and routinely run background checks on licensed holders to determine if their license is still valid, Chittum said. Red flag laws, including the one in Nevada, aim to keep guns out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves or others. But such laws are only effective if the individual demonstrated warning signs so that others can alert law enforcement and initiate the process of revoking the person's firearm, Chittum said. It's not clear if Tamura demonstrated any warning signs that would trigger the state's red flag law. The style of weapon Tamura used to slaughter four people has commonly been seen in some of the nation's deadliest mass shootings and has prompted renewed calls by progressive lawmakers for increased regulation. 'In the State of New York, you cannot buy one of these,' Gov. Kathy Hochul told CNN on Tuesday, criticizing what she said were 'much looser laws in the State of Nevada than we have here.' Hochul called on federal lawmakers to pass a national assault weapon ban that would limit access to high-powered guns like the AR-15 style rifle used in Monday's massacre and slammed GOP counterparts whom she accused of being 'intimidated by the gun lobby.' 'We need a national awakening here, people need to be talked about this once again and it shouldn't just happen in the wake of a tragedy like this,' said Hochul. CNN's Mark Morales contributed to this report.
