Lawrence Wilkes 80, Anaheim

The Rev. Lawrence Wilkes, who went from selling cemetery spots at Crystal Cathedral to becoming the face of “The Hour of Power” broadcasts across the nation, died of complications from COVID-19.

Wilkes, 80, became the interim pastor of the internationally famous Orange County megachurch in 2012 and the host of the religious television show after the church entered bankruptcy. He was remembered by friends and family as a gregarious man, quick with a joke and a knack for speaking to old and young alike.

“He was a big jokester. He would like to say puns. But I think looking back now, that one of the reasons he did that was to get people’s attention so he could start to have a conversation with them,” said his daughter, Christine Dey.

She recalled birthday parties she would have as a teen where she would watch her friends fall into long, deep discussions with her father. “He loved to draw somebody in, even a stranger,” she said.

Dey believes that his approach dates back to how her father found religion. Growing up in Winnipeg, Canada, Wilkes was uninterested in religion as a boy. A Gideon’s Bible he received in grade school sat unread for many years, until Wilkes was 20 and kept waking up with an urge to “read the book.”

He struggled with Scripture at first, but was eventually drawn in, and then found a pastor who made stories about Jesus come to life, Dey said. That led him to go to the seminary, where he met his wife, Nancy. The Anaheim couple would have celebrated their 50th anniversary in July.

After working in the cemetery sales division and manning the lobby entry table, Wilkes worked his way up to becoming the evening pastor at Crystal Cathedral, and then dean of the Robert Schuller School for Preaching.

Wilkes became ill, and was hospitalized on March 25. He was placed on a ventilator, and died on March 31, three days after a test confirmed he had COVID-19, Dey said. One of Dey’s best friends has a 3-year-old daughter who was shaken by the news, asking, “He can’t hold me anymore?” “That’s what his personality was like,” Dey said. In addition to his daughter and his wife, Wilkes is survived by a granddaughter.