(September 16, 1926 – April 2, 2015)
Robert Harold Schuller was an American televangelist, pastor, motivational speaker, and author. He was principally known for the weekly Hour of Power television program, which he founded in 1970 and hosted until 2010. He was also the founder of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, where the Hour of Power program was previously broadcast.
On June 15, 1950, Schuller married Arvella De Haan (1929-2014), a church organist, who was instrumental in developing the music department at the Crystal Cathedral and produced the Hour of Power for over 40 years. The Schullers had one son, Robert Anthony, and four daughters, Sheila, Jeanne, Carol and Gretchen.
Schuller’s son, Robert A. Schuller, and eldest daughter, Sheila Schuller Coleman, have both been senior pastors of Crystal Cathedral. His grandson Robert V. “Bobby” Schuller succeeded as the lead pastor of the Hour of Power in 2013.
Schuller’s second daughter, Jeanne Dunn, and her husband, Paul Dunn, oversaw “The Glory of Christmas” and “The Glory of Easter” productions. Jeanne Dunn has assisted in various editorial contributions to various printed works and for Schuller’s books. Her husband co-authored The Possibility Thinker’s Bible and Living Debt Free with Schuller.
The third daughter, Carol Schuller Milner, was the writer, director, and producer of Creation: Once Upon All Time that debuted in 2005 to an audience of over 70,000. She co-wrote Schuller’s autobiography, My Journey, and has written several other works.
The youngest daughter, Gretchen Schuller Penner, was director of programming for the ministry. Her husband, James Penner, was the producer of the Hour of Power telecast. Both were fired in a restructuring of Crystal Cathedral Ministries in March 2012.
Schuller died early in the morning of April 2, 2015, at a skilled-nursing facility in Artesia, California, after it was announced days prior that he had been in a critical condition.
