Vernon Winfrey, father of Oprah and former US councilman, dies

() — Vernon Winfrey, the father of Oprah Winfrey, died Friday night after battling cancer, Oprah announced in a statement. He was 89 years old.

“Yesterday, with family surrounding her bed, I had the sacred honor of witnessing the man responsible for my life take his last breath,” Oprah said in a tribute to her father. shared on instagram. “We were able to feel the peace enter the room at his death.”

A written tribute in Oprah Daily, Oprah’s lifestyle publication, said that Oprah was able to spend time with her father in Nashville during her final weeks.

On July 4, Vernon was treated to a “Vernon Winfrey Appreciation Celebration” and backyard barbecue, where he was surrounded by friends and loved ones.

The celebration was a way of giving her dad his “flowers while he’s still well enough to smell them,” Oprah said in a previous post.

During the celebration, Oprah’s friend and gospel singer, Wintley Phipps, sang for him. “He FELT the love and reveled in it until she couldn’t speak anymore,” she wrote.

Vernon was a well-known barber in his community and served on the Metro Nashville Council for 16 years.

“I offer my deepest condolences to the family of Vernon Winfrey. Vernon served on the Metro Council for 16 years and dedicated his life to entrepreneurship, barbering and mentoring youth in the community,” said Nashville Mayor John Cooper, in Twitter. “An Army veteran and deacon, he leaves behind a legacy of service.”

Oprah’s mother, Vernita Lee, died in 2018 at 83 years old. Lee was born in Mississippi and gave birth to Winfrey when she was young. Lee and Vernon never married.

‘s Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.