Arvella Schuller, who founded Crystal Cathedral Ministries with her husband Robert Schuler, has died at the age of 84.

Schuller’s family says that she suffered a brief illness last week but everyone was shocked that she passed away from the illness.  She was known as the “first lady” of Crystal Cathedral Ministries and a staunch supporter and encourager of her husband, Reverend Robert Schuller.

Schuller was the driving force behind the internationally known “Hour of Power” television program.  She developed the program as a live, local broadcast but saw the potential for the program to impact lives around the world.  She initiated the changes that turned the program into a worldwide beacon for Christ.

Broadcaster Ed Arnold, who was a volunteer announcer for Hour of Power in the 1970s, said that Arvella Schuller was the “brains behind the church.”  He said that Reverend Schuller would lay out a vision he felt God giving him and Arvella would do all she could to make that vision comes to pass.

She is survived by her husband and five children.