Roe Messner

Early life

Messner grew up in Waldron, Kansas, on the Kansas-Oklahoma border. He founded Messner Construction in Andover, Kansas, and began building churches.

Heritage USA

Roe Messner rocketed to fame with the construction of Heritage USA in 1978 at the behest of Jim Bakker.

In 1987, he and his first wife, Ruth Ann, wrote Building For The Master: By Design (ISBN 0-940609-00-2). He reportedly played a behind-the-scenes role in the downfall of the PTL Club. He was reportedly the person who produced the money for the $265,000 payment to Jessica Hahn to cover up a brief sexual affair. Messner later billed PTL for work never completed on the Jerusalem Amphitheater at Heritage USA.

Revelations of the payoff invited scrutiny of Bakker's finances, prompting him to be charged with fraud. In the Bakkers' fraud trial, Messner testified for Bakker's defense, saying that Jerry Falwell had attempted to take over PTL and its associated cable television network by dispatching Messner to the Bakker home in Palm Springs, California, to make an offer to "keep quiet".

According to Messner's testimony, Tammy wrote the offer on her stationery, listing a $300,000-a-year lifetime salary for Jim, $100,000 a year for Tammy, a house, and a year's worth of free phone calls and health insurance. However, Messner said Bakker wrote on it: "I'm not making any demands on PTL. I'm not asking for anything.". Falwell has denied making any offer. In the messy bankruptcy of PTL, Messner was listed as the single biggest creditor of PTL with an outstanding claim of $14 million. In court papers, the new operators accused Messner of $5.3 million in inflated or phony billings to PTL.

Messner himself filed for personal and corporate bankruptcy in 1990, saying he owed nearly $30 million to more than 300 creditors. He wound up being convicted of bankruptcy fraud. As he faced sentencing in 1996, he said he could not afford to treat his prostate cancer because he lacked health insurance.

Marriage To Ruth Ann

Tammy Faye isn't the only woman Roe Messner tied the knot with. Roe Messner married his first wife Ruth Ann and had four children with her: Richard, Robin, Roann, and Ronald. The couple co-authored Building For The Master: By Design and Church Growth By Design and later separated in 1993.

Marriage to Tammy Faye

Messner divorced his first wife in 1993. At about the same time, Tammy Faye divorced Bakker. Messner and Tammy Faye were married in and lived in Rancho Mirage, California.

In 1996, Roe Messner was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for bankruptcy fraud charges and served his time from 1996 to 1999. In 2003 he published another book on church building entitled Church Growth by Design: A Complete Guide for Planning and Building Churches to God's Glory ISBN 0-9745015-0-6.

Tammy Faye Messner's death

In 2007 Messner and Tammy Faye moved to the Kansas City, Missouri, gated community suburb of Loch Lloyd, Missouri. Tammy Faye's last public appearance was a taped interview on CNN from the home two days before she died.

Tammy Faye died from cancer on July 20, 2007. Roe Messner himself was diagnosed with prostate cancer years ago, though he told Larry King that his doctors had told him that he would not die from the disease.

Tammy Faye Messner's ashes have been interred in the Messner family plot in Waldron immediately next to Messner's mother.

Remarriage

It is reported that Messner married Melanie Hart, Tammy Faye’s former assistant, shortly after the death of his second wife. Hart and Messner's wedding was a small affair, costing only $59,

Messner didn't inform his children of this arrangement until a few days after the wedding. He knew they wouldn't approve, and he didn't want the media to scrutinize their relationship, especially considering he had just buried his wife of 14 years a few months before. The two then moved into the unfinished dream home where Tammy Faye had lived for just a week before her death.

Notable churches

Messner is reported to have been the biggest church builder in the United States. On August 7, 2007, he told Larry King that he had built 1,784 churches in 47 states. Messner constructed the churches but was not the architect.