Marilyn Hickey Obituary -The world lost one of its most fearless voices for the Gospel on Saturday, April 25, 2026. Marilyn Hickey, a woman who once planned to teach Spanish in a small-town school, instead spent over six decades preaching to millions across more than 140 nations. She was 94 years old. If you’ve been searching for the Marilyn Hickey obituary and want to understand who she truly was — not just a headline, but a human being with a remarkable story — this is for you.
Who Was Marilyn Hickey? A Life Devoted to God’s Word
Ask anyone who grew up watching Christian television from the 1970s onward, and there’s a good chance they’ll remember her. Warm. Authoritative. Passionate. Marilyn Hickey wasn’t just a preacher — she was a Bible teacher in the truest sense. She believed deeply that ordinary people, given access to God’s Word, could transform their lives completely.
Her mission statement was simple but sweeping: cover the earth with God’s Word. And she spent every year of her adult life trying to do exactly that.
From a Small Texas Town to a Global Stage
Marilyn Allene Hickey was born on July 1, 1931, in Dalhart, Texas — a small city in the Texas Panhandle where wide-open skies stretched for miles. Her parents were casual churchgoers, attending Methodist services without deep personal conviction. Faith wasn’t the central pillar of her childhood home.
But God had other plans.
As a teenager, Marilyn came to personal faith in Christ. That moment would quietly set the course for everything that followed. She went on to study at the University of Northern Colorado, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Collective Foreign Languages in 1953. Her plan was practical and sensible: become a high school Spanish teacher, settle down, and live a quiet life.
That plan didn’t last long.
How a College Student Became One of Christianity’s Boldest Voices
Through her mother, Marilyn was introduced to a young Pentecostal pastor named Wallace Hickey. He was energetic, faith-filled, and deeply serious about the Gospel. The two connected at an Assemblies of God Church, and on December 26, 1954, they were married.
It was a partnership that would reshape both of their lives — and eventually, the global church.
Wallace became a traveling evangelist, and the two drove town to town conducting tent revival meetings. Along the way, they met Dr. T.L. Osborn, a legendary Pentecostal minister. Marilyn prayed for the sick alongside him, began speaking at conferences, and discovered that she had a rare gift: she could make Scripture come alive for everyday people. The teacher in her never went away — it just found a much bigger classroom.
Marilyn Hickey’s Death — What We Know
When and How Did Marilyn Hickey Pass Away?
Marilyn Hickey passed away on Saturday, April 25, 2026. The announcement was confirmed by Marilyn Hickey Ministries and shared widely across social media and Christian news outlets. She was 94 years old.
As of the time of writing, her exact cause of death has not been publicly disclosed by her family or ministry team. There was no announcement of a prolonged illness prior to her passing. Her ministry simply shared that she had gone home to be with the Lord — and asked the global community to join them in celebrating a life faithfully lived.
A celebration of life service is expected to be announced in the coming days.
How the News Was Announced to the World
It was Marilyn’s daughter, Sarah Bowling — herself a respected Bible teacher, author, and pastor — who broke the news publicly on Sunday, April 26, 2026. Sarah shared a heartfelt message honoring her mother’s life and legacy, and the response from the global Christian community was immediate and overwhelming.
The official Marilyn Hickey Ministries social media accounts confirmed the news with a deeply personal statement: “With heavy hearts, we share the passing of Dr. Marilyn Hickey on April 25, 2026. A faithful servant, she devoted her life to covering the earth with God’s Word.”
Tributes began pouring in from every corner of the world almost instantly.
The Ministry That Changed Millions of Lives
A Television Pioneer — Broadcasting the Gospel Since 1973
Long before streaming, YouTube, or social media, Marilyn Hickey understood the power of television. In 1973, she launched her television program — making her one of the earliest women in the United States to build and sustain a Christian teaching ministry through broadcast media.
That’s not a small thing. At a time when women in ministry were still fighting for credibility and platform, she simply showed up on people’s screens and taught the Bible with such clarity and conviction that audiences kept coming back.
By the time she co-hosted Today with Marilyn and Sarah with her daughter Sarah Bowling from 1996 onward, the program was reaching a potential audience of over 2.2 billion households worldwide. You read that right — billion. The show aired on the DayStar Network, TCT Network, Cornerstone Television Network, TBN, and dozens of independent stations across the globe.
That’s the definition of a pioneer.
The Record-Breaking Pakistan Crusades
If there’s one story that captures Marilyn Hickey’s fearlessness, it’s Pakistan.
At a time when many Western Christian leaders were cautious about traveling to Muslim-majority nations, Marilyn Hickey went — repeatedly. She made seven trips to Pakistan. In 2012, she held a three-day prayer and faith healing rally in Karachi that drew more than 400,000 people. That alone would be remarkable for anyone.
But she went back.
In November 2016, on her seventh trip, she held what became the largest religious gathering in Pakistan’s history — over one million people gathered in a single meeting in Karachi. Among those in attendance were over 300 Imams. Hundreds of thousands made decisions for Christ that day. It was the kind of moment that defies easy description.
Her ministry also broke attendance records in Cairo, Egypt, and she held private meetings with high-ranking Muslim and Hindu government officials around the world. She wasn’t just preaching to believers — she was building bridges where walls had stood for generations.
Over 175 Books That Shaped a Generation of Believers
Marilyn Hickey didn’t just speak. She wrote — prolifically.
Over the course of her ministry, she authored more than 175 books and publications. These weren’t thin pamphlets. They were deep, practical, Scripture-filled resources that believers could return to again and again. Titles like Your Pathway to Miracles, Total Healing, The Names of God, and Spiritual Warfare became staples in the libraries of Spirit-filled Christians worldwide.
Her books weren’t written for theologians with seminary degrees. They were written for the person sitting in a pew on Sunday morning wondering if God’s promises actually applied to them. That accessibility — that genuine care for the average believer — is what made her writing so enduring.
Founding Word to the World College
In 1981, Marilyn Hickey took her commitment to equipping believers one step further by founding Word to the World College, located within the Orchard Road Christian Center campus in Englewood, Colorado. The college trained up ministers, missionaries, and Bible teachers — many of whom went on to serve in some of the most unreached corners of the world.
It was a concrete, institutional expression of her core belief: that the Word of God, when understood and applied, changes everything.
Her Husband, Her Partner, Her Calling — The Wallace Hickey Story
Behind every great ministry is usually a great partnership, and for Marilyn, that partnership was Wallace Hickey.
The two met at an Assemblies of God church, married in 1954, and built something extraordinary together. Wallace became an evangelist, and together they founded the Full Gospel Chapel in Denver, Colorado. That church would eventually grow and transform into the Orchard Road Christian Center — one of the largest churches in the Denver area.
Wallace served as the lead pastor while Marilyn taught, spoke, and eventually expanded her ministry to television and international missions. They were, by every account, a deeply complementary team.
Wallace Hickey passed away on October 19, 2012, in a care center in Denver, after a long and painful battle with Alzheimer’s disease. They had been married for 57 years. His death was a profound loss — but Marilyn didn’t retreat. She pressed forward, continuing to preach, teach, and travel well into her 90s.
That kind of resilience doesn’t come from grit alone. For Marilyn, it came from an unshakeable conviction that her calling wasn’t finished.
Sarah Bowling and the Next Generation of the Hickey Legacy
A Mother-Daughter Ministry Unlike Any Other
Marilyn Hickey had two children with Wallace — a son, Michael Hickey, and a daughter, Sarah Beth Hickey Bowling, born February 1, 1968.
Sarah didn’t just inherit her mother’s name or reputation. She earned her own place in global ministry. Holding a Bachelor of Arts in German from Oral Roberts University and a Master of Arts in Modern History from the University of Missouri, Sarah brought her own intellectual rigor to the work of the Gospel.
Since 1996, Sarah co-hosted Today with Marilyn and Sarah alongside her mother — a television partnership that spanned three decades. But beyond television, Sarah is also the founder of Saving Moses, a global missions organization dedicated to reducing infant mortality in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. She and her husband Reece Bowling serve as Senior Pastors of Encounter Church in Centennial, Colorado (formerly Orchard Road Christian Center).
Their relationship was more than a business partnership. It was the living picture of a faith passed from one generation to the next.
Granddaughter Isabell Steps Into the Calling
The legacy doesn’t stop with Sarah. Marilyn’s granddaughter Isabell joined the Marilyn & Sarah Ministries team in 2023 and has since stepped into full-time ministry. She co-hosts Today with Marilyn and Sarah, writes books, and has begun teaching both domestically and internationally.
In September 2024, Isabell had her first opportunity to minister remotely in Pakistan — where she prayed for the sick and delivered a message of salvation. Three generations. The same mission. The same fire.
Breaking Barriers — Marilyn Hickey as a Trailblazer for Women in Ministry
It’s easy in 2026 to take for granted that women preach, lead churches, and host television programs reaching billions. But when Marilyn Hickey started her television ministry in 1973, none of that was common or accepted in many Christian circles.
She didn’t argue about it. She didn’t write polemical essays demanding a platform. She simply went and did it — with excellence, with Scripture, and with a kind of joyful authority that made it very hard for anyone to dismiss her.
She made history as the first woman to serve on the board of directors for Dr. David Yonggi Cho, founder of Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea — one of the largest congregations on earth. She also served as a member of the Board of Regents of Oral Roberts University and received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from that institution.
By being present in rooms where women hadn’t been before, she quietly changed what those rooms looked like — and who got to be in them. Countless women in ministry today point to Marilyn Hickey as someone who showed them it was possible.
A Global Bridge Builder — Faith Beyond Church Walls
What set Marilyn Hickey apart from many evangelists of her era was her willingness to go where others wouldn’t — and to engage people across religious, cultural, and political divides.
She ministered in Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, India, China, Uganda, Guatemala, Indonesia, Cambodia, Italy, and Russia — among many others. Her ministry reached people in over 140 countries. She held private meetings with Muslim and Hindu government officials and heads of state. She wasn’t trying to pick theological fights. She was trying to build bridges and bring the message of Christ’s love into spaces where it had rarely been welcomed.
That took courage. And wisdom. And a kind of holy stubbornness that clearly ran deep in her character.
The World Reacts — Tributes Pour In
Within hours of Sarah Bowling’s announcement, tributes from across the Christian world began filling social media feeds, ministry websites, and news outlets.
Leaders, pastors, and ordinary believers alike shared how Marilyn Hickey’s teaching had shaped their faith — sometimes at a moment of desperate need, sometimes quietly over years of watching her television program on an early Sunday morning. Many described her as a spiritual mother. Others called her a pioneer, a warrior, a servant.
The Marilyn Hickey Ministries team shared their grief alongside their gratitude: her voice may have gone silent, but her ministry would continue. Her recorded teachings, books, and the institutional work she built are expected to carry her message forward for generations.
What Happens to Marilyn Hickey Ministries Now?
This is a question many supporters and partners are asking right now — and the answer, based on everything the ministry has built, is that it will continue.
Sarah Bowling has served as Vice President of Marilyn Hickey Ministries for years. Granddaughter Isabell is actively engaged in ministry. The television program Today with Marilyn and Sarah has deep infrastructure and a global audience. Word to the World College continues to train ministers. The books remain in print. The recorded messages are still online.
Marilyn spent decades making sure the mission would outlast her. That wasn’t an accident. It was intentional. She built an institution, not just a personality platform. And that makes all the difference.
FAQ — Your Questions About Marilyn Hickey Answered
When did Marilyn Hickey die? Marilyn Hickey passed away on Saturday, April 25, 2026.
How old was Marilyn Hickey when she died? She was 94 years old. She was born on July 1, 1931.
What was Marilyn Hickey’s cause of death? As of now, the exact cause of death has not been publicly disclosed by her family or ministry. No long-term illness was announced prior to her passing.
Who is Sarah Bowling? Sarah Bowling is Marilyn Hickey’s daughter, a Bible teacher, author, pastor, and the co-host of Today with Marilyn and Sarah. She is also the founder of Saving Moses, a global infant mortality organization. Sarah confirmed her mother’s death publicly on April 26, 2026.
What books did Marilyn Hickey write? Marilyn Hickey authored more than 175 books and publications over her lifetime. Some of her most well-known titles include Your Pathway to Miracles, Total Healing, The Names of God, Spiritual Warfare, and The Power of Prayer and Fasting.
What was Marilyn Hickey known for? She was known for her decades-long television ministry, her record-breaking evangelistic crusades (including a gathering of one million people in Pakistan in 2016), her 175+ books, her pioneering role as a woman in global Christian leadership, and her bridge-building ministry to Muslim-majority nations.
Was Marilyn Hickey married? Yes. She was married to Wallace Hickey from December 26, 1954, until his death on October 19, 2012. They were married for 57 years. Wallace passed away from Alzheimer’s disease in Denver, Colorado.
Will Marilyn Hickey Ministries continue after her death? Yes. The ministry has confirmed it will continue operating with the same mission. Sarah Bowling and granddaughter Isabell are both actively involved, and the ministry’s television program, books, and global outreach infrastructure remain in place.