Remembering Our Founder:
April 21, 1936 – August 21, 2025
He was number 349 on the list.
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (August 21, 2025) — Dr. James C. Dobson, one of the most influential Christian leaders of the last half-century and a tireless advocate for the traditional family, passed away on August 21, 2025 at the age of 89. A psychologist, New York Times best-selling author, a Radio Hall of Fame broadcaster, and advisor to five U.S. presidents, Dr. Dobson dedicated his life to strengthening marriages, guiding parents, and defending biblical values by championing the central role of family in America.
“Dr. Dobson was a pioneer—a man of deep conviction whose voice shaped the way generations view faith, family and culture,” said Gary Bauer, Senior Vice President of Public Policy at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. “His bold leadership, integrity, and compassion helped equip countless families to thrive in a world of shifting values. He was a mentor, a counselor, and a steady voice of truth in turbulent times.”
Born in 1936 in Shreveport, Louisiana, Dr. Dobson founded Focus on the Family in 1977, creating one of the largest faith-based organizations in the world. His daily broadcasts were heard on over 4,000 radio stations across North America and translated into 27 languages in more than 160 countries. Following his departure from Focus on the Family in 2010, Dr. Dobson launched the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute (JDFI), continuing his mission through Family Talk, a nationally syndicated radio broadcast offering timeless counsel for today’s families.
Dr. Dobson authored more than 70 books dedicated to the preservation of the family, including The New Dare to Discipline, The New Strong-Willed Child, Bringing Up Boys, Bringing Up Girls, and When God Doesn’t Make Sense, which remain staples in Christian homes today. His leadership extended beyond media and publishing as he advised multiple U.S. administrations on family policy, juvenile justice, and child welfare.
A frequent presence in Washington, D.C., Dr. Dobson played key roles in presidential commissions, with appointments by Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. He was instrumental in shaping national conversations around pornography, gambling, teen pregnancy prevention, and the sanctity of human life, and he served on President Donald Trump’s Evangelical Executive Advisory Board.
Dr. Dobson’s voice not only influenced policy but also gave hope to millions seeking practical, faith-based wisdom for their homes. His legacy lives on through the innumerable families he inspired to build their lives on the foundation of Scripture.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Shirley; their children, Danae and Ryan; daughter-in-law Laura; and two beloved grandchildren.
Dr. Dobson’s impact endures through the many lives he touched, the families he strengthened, and the unshakable faith he proclaimed.
Dr. James Dobson Family Institute (JDFI), founded by Dr.
James Dobson, is dedicated to preserving the biblical institutions of marriage
and family by encouraging, inspiring, and leading parents and children to build
their lives on God’s Word. JDFI’s mission is driven by Dr. James Dobson’s
legacy of serving families with broadcasts, videos, articles, leadership
training, and policy advocacy to ensure the next generation of families is
equipped to stand firm with answers to life’s most difficult questions. Dr.
Dobson’s Family Talk radio program is broadcast weekdays on over 1,500 radio
outlets and is heard by over half a million people each week.
A Message from Focus on the Family President Jim Daly
With Dr. Dobson’s passing, we remember the life of a gifted man who walked with the Lord. I’m thankful for his sensitivity to those who were weak, downtrodden, and sometimes overlooked.
I recall one of the first times I witnessed Dr. Dobson’s heart for people. I had taken part in a dinner with several Focus on the Family supporters, and one couple told me the heart-wrenching story of the death of their 4-year-old son to lymphoma. The father shared how, for months, he had held his dying child at night, praying for God’s intervention. But their little boy lost his battle with cancer and slipped away.
When I relayed this story to Dr. Dobson, his eyes filled with tears and he said, “That’s one of the most devastating experiences a human being can suffer. The loss of a child would lead any parent to ask, ‘Why, God?’” He was heartbroken for that family. A few years later, he wrote When God Doesn’t Make Sense. Perhaps that book grew from Dr. Dobson’s emotional connection to families who suffer inexplicable tragedies. He heard many stories of family trauma through the years, and he grieved for each one. He never lost his heart for those who weep.
Now, it is our turn to weep. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather, and a friend to millions of listeners and readers around the world. Dr. Dobson’s presence will be sorely missed, but we rejoice in the knowledge that he is now joyfully in the presence of the God he served.
In Memory of Dr. James Dobson - Psychologist. Author.
Speaker. Family Man. When Dr. James Dobson founded Focus on the Family in 1977,
nobody knew he would impact the lives of millions and become synonymous with
trusted advice to help families thrive in Christ. With Dr. Dobson’s passing on
August 21, 2025, Focus on the Family President Jim Daly presented a
pre-produced tribute to honor the founder, with treasured memories from Dr.
Dobson’s cousin, the late Rev. H.B. London, Ray Vander Laan, Kay Coles James,
Kim Meeder and others.
Several Christian leaders paid tribute to Dobson, including
Greg Laurie, Franklin Graham, Chuck Swindoll, Jack Graham, Alveda King, John
Hagee, David Jeremiah, Jack Hibbs, Eric Metaxas, Ben Carson, Jack Graham,
Robert Jeffress, Megan Basham, Carol Swain, Skip Heitzig, Tony Perkins, Jesse
Duplantis, Michael Youseff, Jentzen Franklin, James Robison and many more.
Although never an ordained minister, he was called "the
nation's most influential evangelical leader" by The New York Times while
Slate portrayed him as being a successor to evangelical leaders Jerry Falwell
and Pat Robertson.
His writing career began as an assistant to Paul Popenoe.
After Dobson's rise to prominence through promoting corporal punishment of
disobedient children in the 1970s, he became a founder of purity culture in the
1990s. He promoted his ideas via his various Focus on the Family affiliated
organizations, the Family Research Council which he founded in 1981, Family
Policy Alliance which he founded in 2004, the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute
which he founded in 2010, and a network of US state-based lobbying organizations
called Family Policy Councils.
Beginning in 1980, Dobson built networks of political
activists and founded lobbying organizations that advocated against LGBT rights
and opposed legal abortion, among other socially conservative policy goals. He
nurtured relationships with conservative politicians, such as Ronald Reagan. He
was among the founders of Family Research Council in 1981, a federal lobbying
organization classified as a hate group, and Family Policy Councils that lobby
at the level of state government. When Focus on the Family moved to Colorado
Springs in 1991, the city started to be called "the Vatican of the
Religious Right" with Dobson imagined as an evangelical pope.
Dobson interviewed serial killer Ted Bundy on-camera the day
before Bundy's execution on January 24, 1989. The interview became
controversial because Bundy was given an opportunity to attempt to explain his
actions (the rape and murder of 30 young women). Bundy claimed in the interview
(in a reversal of his previous stance) that violent pornography played a
significant role in molding and crystallizing his fantasies. In May 1989,
during an interview with John Tanner, a Republican Florida prosecutor, Dobson called
for Bundy to be forgiven. The Bundy tapes gave Focus on the Family revenues of
over $1 million, $600,000 of which it donated to anti-pornography groups and to
anti-abortion groups.
At the invitation of Presidents and Attorneys General, Dobson has also served on government advisory panels and testified at several government hearings. He was given the "Layman of the Year" award by the National Association of Evangelicals in 1982, "The Children's Friend" honor by Childhelp USA (an advocate agency against child abuse) in 1987, and the Humanitarian Award by the California Psychological Association in 1988. In 2005, Dobson received an honorary doctorate (his 16th)[citation needed] from Indiana Wesleyan University and was inducted into IWU's Society of World Changers, while speaking at the university's Academic Convocation.
In 2008, Dobson's Focus on the Family program was inducted
into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
During the 1960s and 1970s effort to legalize abortion,
journalism often reported the plight of women in need of abortion, such as
Sherri Finkbine. Dobson, together with Francis Schaeffer and others, shifted
the public conversation away from the suffering of women, toward the suffering
of the fetus and the selfishness of women who seek abortion.
Dobson was a member of the Council on Biblical Manhood and
Womanhood. He supported the evangelical men's parachurch organization Promise
Keepers and contributed to their 1994 book The Seven Promises of a Promise
Keeper
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