Evelyn Roberts, 88; Wife of Evangelist Oral Roberts

Evelyn Roberts, the wife of evangelist Oral Roberts and a trustee of the evangelic association named after her husband, has died. She was 88.

Roberts, who had been in generally good health, died Wednesday at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach after suffering a head injury Tuesday.

According to Jeremy Burton, a spokesman for Oral Roberts University, she fell in a parking lot and struck her head on the pavement. The fall caused massive internal bleeding.

One of eight children, she was born Evelyn Fannestock in Warsaw, Mo., on April 22, 1917. Her family moved to Oklahoma, where she later attended Northeastern State University. She also attended Texas College of Arts and Industries in Kingsville, Texas. After leaving college she taught school in Texas for several years. She married Oral Roberts in Stilwell, Okla., on Dec. 25, 1938.

She wrote several books, including “His Darling Wife, Evelyn: The Autobiography of Mrs. Oral Roberts,” “Heaven Has a Floor” and “Evelyn Roberts’ Miracle Life Stories.”

She spent time counseling couples with marital difficulties. She also worked with her husband to develop his television ministry and was a lifetime trustee of Oral Roberts University.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by their son Richard Roberts, the president of Oral Roberts University, and a daughter, Roberta Roberts Potts. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren, several great-grandchildren, two sisters and two brothers.

A celebration of her life will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at Christ’s Chapel on the campus of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa.