Staff and wire reports

RALEIGH, N.C.—Live one day at a time, without fear, Tammy Faye Messner said earlier this month as she battled cancer, weighing just 65 pounds.

Messner, who as Tammy Faye Bakker helped her husband, Jim, build a multimillion-dollar evangelism empire that collapsed in disgrace, died July 21, her manager said. She was 65.

Messner had battled colon cancer since 1996 that more recently spread to her lungs. She passed away peacefully July 20 at her home near Kansas City, Mo. A family service was held in a private cemetery, where her ashes were interred, he said.

Messner had frequently spoken about her medical problems, saying she hoped to be an inspiration to others.

“Don’t let fear rule your life,” she said. “Live one day at a time, and never be afraid.” But she told well-wishers in a note on her website in May that the doctors had stopped trying to treat the cancer.

In an interview with CNN’s Larry King earlier this month, an emaciated Messner—still using her trademark makeup—said, “I believe when I leave this earth, because I love the Lord, I’m going straight to heaven.” Asked if she had any regrets, Messner said: “I don’t think about it, Larry, because it’s a waste of good brain space.”

After she and her husband lost their PTL empire, Messner became something of a gay icon, even appearing at gay Pride events.

“When I went—when we lost everything, it was the gay people that came to my rescue, and I will always love them for that,” she told King.

For many, the TV image of then-Mrs. Bakker forgiving husband Jim’s infidelities, tears streaking her cheeks with mascara, became a symbol for 1980s America.

She divorced her husband of 30 years, with whom she had two children, in 1992 while he was in prison for defrauding millions from followers of their PTL television ministries.

Through it all, Messner kept plugging her faith and herself. She did concerts, a short-lived secular TV talk show and an inspirational videotape. In 2004, she cooperated in the making of a documentary about her struggle with cancer, called “Tammy Faye: Death Defying.”

A 2000 documentary “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” delved into the rise and fall of the PTL ministry, largely through interviews with Messner. Directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato garnered wide critical praise for their intelligent and sympathetic depiction of the former PTL co-star.

Spotts said the family is considering a public memorial service for the coming weeks.