Obituaries

Fred Phelps | 1929 - 2014

Fred Phelps and members of Westboro Baptist Church demonstrate at the trial of Russell Henderson in the killing of Matthew Shepard.

Fred Phelps and members of Westboro Baptist Church demonstrate at the trial of Russell Henderson in the killing of Matthew Shepard.   (Kevin Moloney / Getty Images)

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Fred Phelps, a publicity-hungry Kansas pastor who picketed hundreds of military funerals because he believed America was too sympathetic to gays, died early Thursday in Topeka, Kan. He was 84.

Fred Phelps

Fred Phelps stands with his wife, Margie M. Phelps, left, and their daughter Margie J. Phelps during a demonstration outside the federal courthouse in Baltimore in 2007, where a jury was deliberating a suit brought by Albert Snyder over a Westboro Baptist Church demonstration at the funeral of his son Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder.   (Jed Kirschbaum / Baltimore Sun)

Fred Phelps

Fred Phelps preaches at Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kans. “You can’t preach the Bible without preaching hate,” he once said.   (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

Obituaries

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