Jerry Falwell

==Failing health and death==
In early 2005, Falwell was hospitalized for two weeks with a [[viral infection]], discharged, and re-hospitalized on May 30, 2005 in [[respiratory arrest]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Falwell: The church won the 2004 elections|url=http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=3500772&nav=0RdEbGkt|newspaper=WSFA 12|date=June 21, 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719023126/http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=3500772&nav=0RdEbGkt|archive-date=July 19, 2011|df=mdy-all|access-date=December 30, 2018}}</ref><ref name="condition">[https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-30-falwell_x.htm Falwell is taken off ventilator, upgraded to stable condition] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415025139/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-30-falwell_x.htm |date=2009-04-15 }}. ''[[USA Today]]''. May 30, 2005</ref> He was released from the hospital and returned to work. Later in the same year, a [[stent]] was implanted to correct a 70 percent blockage in his [[coronary artery|coronary arteries]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Rev. Jerry Falwell Dies at 73 after collapsing|url=http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/national/doc464a00ac1becb782807977.txt|newspaper=Sauk Valley Newspapers|date=May 15, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719015911/http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/national/doc464a00ac1becb782807977.txt|archive-date=July 19, 2011|access-date=November 7, 2010}}</ref>

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Macel Pate Falwell of VA.png|left|thumb|Falwell's widow, the former Macel Pate, died in 2015 shortly after her 82nd birthday.]] -->
On May 15, 2007, Falwell was found unconscious and without a pulse in his office at about 10:45&nbsp;a.m., after he missed a morning appointment, and was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-05-15-falwell-hospital_N.htm?csp=34|title=Evangelist Jerry Falwell Dies at 73|date=May 15, 2007|access-date=May 15, 2007|work=USA Today |agency=Associated Press|first1=Susan|last1=Page|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070517033223/http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-05-15-falwell-hospital_N.htm?csp=34|archive-date=May 17, 2007}}</ref> "I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast... He went to his office, I went to mine and they found him unresponsive," said Ron Godwin, the executive vice president of Falwell's [[Liberty University]]. His condition was initially reported as "gravely serious"; [[CPR]] was administered unsuccessfully. At 2:10&nbsp;p.m., during a live press conference, a doctor for the hospital confirmed that Falwell had died of "[[Arrhythmia|cardiac arrhythmia]], or [[sudden cardiac death]]".<ref name="Transcript">[http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/15/cnr.05.html Transcript] CNN.com, May 15, 2007</ref> The hospital released a statement saying that he was pronounced dead at Lynchburg General Hospital at 12:40&nbsp;p.m., at the age of 73. Falwell's family; including his wife, the former Macel Pate (1933–2015);<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/cknj/obituary.aspx?n=macel-falwell&pid=176130644|title=Macel Falwell|publisher=Central Kentucky News-Journal|location=[[Campbellsville, Kentucky]]|access-date=October 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065754/http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/cknj/obituary.aspx?n=macel-falwell&pid=176130644|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref> and sons, [[Jerry Falwell Jr.]] and [[Jonathan Falwell]]; were at the hospital at the time of the pronouncement.

Falwell's funeral took place on May 22, 2007, at Thomas Road Baptist Church after he lay in repose both at the church and at Liberty University. Falwell's burial service was private. He is interred at a spot on the Liberty University campus near the [[Montview|Carter Glass Mansion]] and Falwell's office. [[B. R. Lakin]], his mentor, is buried nearby.  After Falwell's death, his sons succeeded him at the two positions he held, Jerry Falwell Jr. as president of Liberty University and Jonathan Falwell as the senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church. Jerry Falwell Sr.'s daughter, Jeannie F. Savas, is a surgeon.

The last televised interview with Jerry Falwell Sr. was conducted by [[Christiane Amanpour]] for the [[CNN]] original series ''[[God's Warriors|CNN Presents: God's Warriors]].''<ref>[http://www.hvc-inc.com/clients/cnn/warriors/for.html#pr CNN – God's Warriors] from [[CNN]] {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> He had been interviewed on May 8, one week before his death; in the interview he revealed that he had asked God for at least 20 more years in order to accomplish his vision for the university he founded.<ref name="Transcript"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/08/16/gods.warriors.fallwell.cnn|title=Video News|website=[[CNN]]|access-date=January 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204210432/http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/08/16/gods.warriors.fallwell.cnn|archive-date=February 4, 2009}}</ref> Falwell's last televised sermon was his May 13, 2007, message on [[Mother's Day (United States)|Mother's Day]].