Tammy Faye Bakker and her husband Jim Bakker were the first couple in TV Evangelism, creating a huge empire through The Jim and Tammy Show. Yet their empire quickly became toxic following a huge scandal.

Tammy Jaye Bakker passed away in 2007, age 65. The last known photo of her truly is a tragic one.

Evangelists Tammy Faye Bakker and husband Jim Bakker had it all. They lived a life of luxury, with several houses, expensive cars and a great love of God. However, it all came crashing down amid a huge scandal involving finances and sex.

Tammy Faye Bakker

Jim Bakker was eventually sent to prison, but Tammy Faye Bakker moved on, continuing to live her life and going into acting. She passed away in 2007, at 65 years of age.

So, who was she? This is her story.

Tammy Faye Bakker, born LaValley, was born on March 7, 1942 in International Falls, Minnesota.

Tammy Faye Bakker – childhood

When she was only three years old, her parents divorced. Her mother wedded a new man, a widowed textile mill worker, and Tammy Faye Bakker moved into their shared home. She was the eldest of eight children.

As a child, God became central to Bakker’s life. She was raised in a strict religious home, and at 10 years of age, Bakker said she had an epiphany.

In her autobiography Tammy: Telling It My Way, released in 1996, she wrote about it. According to New York Times, Tammy Faye Bakker began speaking in tongues at the Pentecostal church her mother attended, prompting her to promise to devote her life to religion.

Tammy Faye Bakker attended the North Central Bible College in Minneapolis. There, she met her first husband Jim Bakker, who was a night monitor at her dorm. He proposed to her on the first date and the couple tied the knot in 1961.

Both Tammy and Jim were strong in faith, and the two started travelling around the country, working as evangelists. Jim did the preaching and Tammy sang.