Fred Phelps, the former pastor (as he had recently been excommunicated by his extremist Westboro Baptist Church), died today.
The National Post,/br>
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/03/20/fred-phelps-dies-at-age-84-westboro-baptist-church-founder-was-suffering-from-health-problems
reports that he passed away in the wee hours of March 19-20. He was in a hospice and had been suffering from serious health problems recently.
No doubt you are well aware of the infamies of his ministry, but if not, Wikipedia has a useful introduction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps
Phelps had been banned, along with other members of Westboro Baptist
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/church-members-enter-canada-aiming-to-picket-bus-victim-s-funeral-1.703285
from entering Canada in 2008 after announcing his plans to stage an anti-Canada protest at the funeral of a Winnipeg man.
Also, it was rediscovered last fall that
http://www.benedictionblogson.com/2013/09/24/fred-phelps-prairie-bible-institute-alumnus/
Fred Phelps graduated from Prairie Bible Institute.