Dede Robertson obit

Dede Robertson, Wife of Televangelist Pat Robertson, Dead at 94: 'A Woman of Great Faith'

 

 She was not on  the list.

Dede Robertson, the beloved wife of televangelist Pat Robertson and a founding board member of the Christian Broadcasting Network, has died. She was 94.

Dede died on Tuesday at her home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, CBN said in a statement.

Although a cause of death was not provided, the Robertson family thanked a number of individuals from a local home health care service as well as a Virginia hospice "for the wonderful care they provided Dede during the past months."

"Dede Robertson was a woman of great faith, a champion of the Gospel, and a remarkable servant of Christ who has left an indelible print on all that she set her hand to during her extraordinary life," her husband, the founder of CBN, said in the statement.

All four of the couple's children shared loving tributes to their mother.

"My mom was a rock. She was a rock throughout our childhood," said daughter Ann LeBlanc. "Dad had to travel a lot, but Mom was always there for us kids… that gives great security to children."

"Mom was the glue that held the Robertson family. She was always working behind the scenes. If it weren't for mom, there wouldn't be a CBN," added son Gordon Robertson, the CEO of CBN as well as a host of The 700 Club, a role his father stepped down from in 2021.

Focusing on one of Dede's "many virtues," daughter Elizabeth Robinson said that her mother was never one to "complain or want to give up."

"She was steadfast. That's what Dad needed beside him all these years; a steadfast partner," she said. "She was not too concerned about herself. She was selfless. I always saw that growing up. She would make sure we had before she had."

Son Tim Robertson went on to praise his parents' enduring bond.

"I think the thing that's been wonderful for all of us children to see was the extraordinary growth in my parents," he wrote. "As they got older, it seems like they were getting closer together."

"There was a sweetness and a gentleness in both of them," he added. "That was a great example for us kids to see."

Dede, who was born on Dec. 3, 1927, graduated with a bachelor's degree in social administration at Ohio State University and then spent time working as a fashion model and beauty queen, according to an obituary by CBN.

While attending Yale, where she received her master's in nursing, Dede met her husband, who was a student at Yale Law School at the time.

In addition to being a founding board member of CBN, Dede traveled around the world to help "bring humanitarian and medical aid" to those in need, and served as a U.S. delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women from 1982-1990.

Throughout 1987 and 1988, Dede visited 52 American cities while supporting her husband's bid to become the Republican presidential nominee, a nod that eventually went to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush.

She was also "an extraordinarily creative interior decorator," whose "crowning achievement was the decoration of the Regent University Theatre," the obituary states, noting that the building was renamed in her honor.

"It can truly be said that wherever Dede's hand touched, it brought beauty," the obituary noted.

She is survived by her husband, their four children, 14 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.