*Zachery Tims’ children held a memorial gathering for their late father on his birthday, Wednesday night (Apr. 18), reports Charismanews.com.
Tims, who co-founded New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Fla. with his then-wife Riva, would have been 43.
Riva, who recently recounted some of her life with the charismatic preacher in the new book When It All Falls Apart: Find healing, joy and victory through the pain, announced the memorial on her Facebook page.
“We will be remembering Dr. Zachery Tims Jr. on his birthday with a special memorial gathering on Wednesday, April 18th 2012,” Riva wrote. “It will be a very brief program (30 minutes) led by the Tims’ Children.”
The service was held at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Orlando, Fla., at 6:30 p.m.
Riva and their four children were on vacation with Tims in Puerto Rico the week prior to his death.
Tims died in a New York City hotel room last August at age 42. News reports indicate he had a plastic bag filled with white powder in his pocket, leading many to believe his death was associated with a drug overdose. By Tims’ own testimony, he was instantly delivered from drug addiction when he was saved as a teenager. However, the cause of death has not been publicly revealed.
Oral arguments are scheduled for Sept. 4 in Tims’ mother Madeline’s move to keep her son’s death cause private. A ruling may not come down from the bench until early 2013, according to attorney Ricardo E. Oquendo, who is representing Madeline in the suit.
Zachary Tims looks like Will Smith in that picture.