Dr. James Dobson’s contributions to family and faith have left an indelible mark on society, and this episode is a tribute to his remarkable life. We delve into the pivotal moments of his legacy, from the founding of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute to his advocacy for family values and biblical principles. His lifelong service to God, evident through his many works and honors, is celebrated while emphasizing the ongoing relevance of his mission. Join us as colleagues and friends share moving stories of their experiences with Dr. Dobson, illustrating his profound impact on individuals and culture alike.
Hello friends, this is Shirley Dobson. My precious husband Jim is now with Jesus. Even though I know he is rejoicing, my heart is aching. Jim will always be the love of my life. I want to thank you and millions around the world for opening your hearts to Jim over the decades. He worked hard to promote righteousness and help you build a strong family filled with love, commitment, and trust. People are hurting like never before. and in desperate need of biblical help. Jim prayed that you would experience the abiding love and forgiveness that comes with asking Jesus to be your Savior. But his desire was that his counsel should be shared long after he was gone. Dr. James Dobson Family Institute will continue to work hard to accomplish that. Thank you for your friendship that has meant so much to us through the years. We hope to continue to be a blessing to you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, hello, everyone. My name is James Dobson, and I sat down and wrote something 40 years ago that I’ve kept, and you might find it interesting. I want to share it with you today. It starts like this. I have concluded that the accumulation of wealth, even if I could achieve it, is an insufficient reason for living. When I reach the end of my days, a moment or two from now, I must look backward on something more meaningful than the pursuit of houses and land and machines and stocks and bonds, nor is fame of any lasting benefit. I will consider my earthly existence to have been wasted unless I can recall a loving family, a consistent investment in the lives of people, and an earnest attempt to serve the God who made me. And nothing else makes much sense.
SPEAKER 01 :
Those powerful words recorded by the founder and chairman of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, James C. Dobson, really ring true and a lot more poignant today in this moment as Dr. Dobson went home to be with the Lord yesterday. I’m Roger Marsh, and you’ve tuned into a special edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk as we’re remembering the life of our founder, my mentor, and the friend of many people, Dr. James C. Dobson. Gary Bauer is with us. Gary is the Senior Vice President of Public Policy here at the James Dobson Family Institute and a longtime colleague and friend of Dr. Dobson’s. Gary, it’s a kind of somber day to have this conversation, especially hearing those words that Dr. recorded shortly before his passing.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, you’re right, Roger. You know, as believers, when something like this happens, we have these two emotions. One is the normal sadness and mourning of losing a friend, a fellow believer. But there’s a certain joy in knowing that Dr. Dobson is now with the Lord. His faith has been turned into sight. He sees the face of Jesus. And That that’s powerful. You know, listening. It’s so appropriate and apparent listening to that opening statement by Dr. Dobson that he would describe his life and his goals better than you and I would be able to do it. Right. Right. Yeah. He always gets it exactly right. And of course, what he said. was exactly right. Look, Dr. Dobson was 89 years old. And if you’re in your 80s, everybody knows you’re wrestling with things. Your body is having a hard time holding your soul. So Dr. Dobson, there is absolutely no doubt about this. And I hope and believe everybody listening understands this. he’s in a place where there are no more anxious bedside visits, no more waiting for the results of the cancer tests. What did the EKG say? This chemical, this drug is going to take care of this. Will I make it through this surgery? It, you know, when you get to a certain stage of life and he wrestled with many of the things that happened with age and, That is a burden in itself, and all of that is gone now. He has looked into the face of our Lord and Savior, and he has heard the words that every one of us want to hear dearly.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well done, good and faithful servant. What a glorious day for a doctor. I mean, of course, it’s bittersweet for us. who remain, but I think about the fact that from his simple, humble beginnings, James Clayton Dobson Jr., April 21st, 1936, Shreveport, Louisiana, and how he loved his parents, James and Myrtle, and how they lived in Texas and Oklahoma while he was a child. He was Jimmy, that’s for sure. And then over the course of time, Jimmy, Jim, Dad, you know, everyone here called him Doctor. You know, even those of us who have earned doctor’s degrees. I mean, you got your doctorate, but you’re with Dr. Dobson. There’s only one doctor in the room, and we know who that is. But I know that one of the things that he really truly appreciated also was his role as Jimpa. You know, I mean, the fact that he, Ryan and Laura have their two wonderful children. And of course, Denae is such a vital part of the ministry here. And it all begins with a young boy who will tell you, and this is one of my favorite stories, Gary, of Dr. sharing how he came to faith at one of his dad’s revivals when he was four years old. I mean, I think part of the reason why child psychology and child evangelism was so important to Dr. Dobson was the fact that it happened to him and that he never lost it. You always saw four-year-old Jimmy Dobson talking about the Lord with people, even though he was in his 60s, 70s, 80s. Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s a great point to remember. You know, I crossed paths with Dr. Dobson at an unlikely time. I was serving in the Reagan administration. And so I’m in Washington, D.C. And as everybody knows, this is a city filled with controversy. And I got into a couple of really big fights in Washington over things related to faith, family, and freedom, the things that define Jim’s life. And it felt a little lonely at the time when I was going through that. And I got a phone call and it was Dr. Dobson. And he said, I’ve been watching how you’ve been fighting back against these folks that want to rip faith out of our country and want to redefine the family and want to indoctrinate our children. I’d love to have you on the radio show. And I ended up going on the show. And that ended up being the first of literally hundreds of interviews, which really did, without any shadow of a doubt, result in me having a following through him that enabled me to be more effective in Washington fighting for those things. And that began a lifelong relationship that is a big part of my life.
SPEAKER 01 :
You know, Gary, it’s interesting you mentioned the fact that Dr. Dobson reached out to you, because I wonder how many people realize there are so many different organizations, so many different ministries, if you will, that had been launched because Dr. James Dobson saw something in what was happening there and took the first step. You know, oftentimes people will say, boy, if I could touch the hem of his garment, if you will, you know, just get a little bit, you know, kind of be around him, then that might be of benefit to me and my ministry. But Dr. was very proactive, and I think that that’s where a lot of people— either loved or hated him, was the fact that he saw something and said, okay, well, this is an area where we should be doing more and there’s a way I can help. He was very thoughtful and very careful in the way he approached that. And I think that’s a huge part of his legacy is the fact that he was very intentional in reaching out to people and recognizing what was good in the culture.
SPEAKER 04 :
We would need hours to summarize all the organizations that exist now because he either reached out or somebody crossed paths with him. And he said, well, that’s a wonderful idea. Let me see what I can do to help. get people that have the means to support new organizations. So the Family Research Council started that way. And of course, his own ministry that he was so well known for focused on the family. You know, the impact of that is just incredible. Roger, you and I have talked a couple of times about this. We all know that the last 40, 50 years in America, a lot of not good things have happened. The abortion culture and the attack on the normal meaning of marriage and all the rest of it. But we both have talked about, imagine, imagine what the country would be like if Dr. Dobson had not, during that 40 years, been speaking for what I still believe is the great majority of the country.
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s interesting and it’s funny when you mentioned the marriage component. We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that behind every great man, you know, the old expression. And the fact that it was his junior year at Pasadena College when old Legs Dobson, and that’s the story Mrs. Dobson tells, so I can say this now with all love and respect, the star of the tennis team there met Shirley Deer during his junior year, and they got married a couple of years later. And When you think about the fact that they loved each other, 65 years together in marriage, just amazing. Although they experienced a lot of the struggles and challenges that a lot of married couples face, the fact that they kept their focus, and their focus was on the Lord and on ministry, and the fact that even that he started organizations like the one you mentioned, and then, of course, the James Dobson Family Institute. This is all driven by not so much a desire to advance the name of James Dobson, but to advance the name of Jesus Christ. in the public arena, as it were, and to help families focus where they need to focus, on their faith, on their family, you know, on religious freedom and the nationally syndicated ministries that he launched. I mean, let’s face it, JDFI, we’re in our 15th year here. I’m sure a lot of people said, well, Dr. Dobson must be retired by now. Well, I’m here to tell you that as recently as just a couple of weeks before his passing, he and I were meeting about the broadcast schedule. I mean, he was still very actively involved right up to the very end.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, he was, Roger. And you know, at JDFI, we’ve got a great team. And one of the things Dr. Dobson felt very strongly about was that when the Lord called him home, he wanted his legacy to continue. He wanted the things that he has done over the years to help husbands and wives keep strong marriages alive. to help children be raised with the right values, to make sure that the country still had religious liberty. He wanted all of that to go on. And there’s a rich reservoir of material that he produced that at JDFI, we are committed to making sure that next year and 10 years and 50 years from that, or until the Lord returns, his voice will still be heard in the challenging times that we live in.
SPEAKER 01 :
You know, it’s interesting, Gary, you mentioned the fact that you and Dr. Dobson met when you were working for the Reagan White House. And eventually he wound up on the council to fighting pornography. And he did a lot of work in the White House there. A lot of people don’t realize they think, OK, well, of course, Ronald Reagan was a Republican, a conservative, this, that and the other thing. But people don’t often hear about the fact that. At the White House Conference on Families during the Carter administration, he received a special commendation from Jimmy Carter, you know, who was politically perhaps opposite of where Dr. Dobson was. But when it came to faith and values, there was that recognition. And I think it’s a good point. benchmark for us as Christians to say, hey, you know, here we were in the late 70s. You have a Democratic governor who is probably now would be considerably opposite of where we are faith and values wise, but even President Carter recognized what Dr. Dobson was all about and vice versa. And the fact that what does the scripture say, you know, when your ways are pleasing to the Lord, even your enemies are at peace with you. And I think that was something that Dr. Dobson experienced a lot more of than perhaps people would understand. Gary, let’s talk about the fact that what Dr. Dobson was sharing was talking about what’s really important in life. I mean, there are people who would look and say, okay, this guy wrote over 70 books. He’s got 18 honorary doctorates, including his earned doctorate. I mean, he’s had this really rich and powerful life. But for perpetuity, we’re all going to remember him. I mean, just from now until the end of time. as a man who put his faith first, and that drove everything. Talk about how, for Dr. Dobson, faith, family, and freedom really were intertwined. They were all part of the same puzzle.
SPEAKER 04 :
No question about it. And of course, this drives the other side, for lack of a better word, crazy, because this idea has grown up that Yeah. He loved America. He loved God, of course, first, and he loved his family, but he loved America. And he was deeply concerned that if America was ripped out of the rich soil of Judeo-Christian civilization, that the country would be lost. That was something that almost every American believed up until about the 1960s. Then it became a very controversial thing to say, but not Dr. Dobson. It defined everything that he did. And, you know, you mentioned his influence in Washington and that Jimmy Carter thing. a Democrat president, respected him too. I can tell you there are members of Congress even today, but over the years, many that I met, mostly Republicans, but a few Democrats too, who when I would be in their office to talk to them, they would say, by the way, Gary, did you know that Dr. Dobson brought me to the Lord or Dr. Dobson changed my priorities? I was on a you know, America round of work, work, work. And my marriage was falling apart. And then I heard a Dr. Dobson show and it completely changed my priorities. So we’ll never completely know that Jim knows right now in heaven. Yes, he does. He’s seen a lot of people that I think are saying, thank you, including a lot of, um, of people that wouldn’t even have been born if their mothers hadn’t heard Dr. Dobson’s message about the sanctity of life. I was with him many times at events when a complete stranger, a woman would come up to him and say, Dr. Dobson, because of you, my nine-year-old here, my four-year-old, my 12-year-old, would not be alive. I was on my way to an abortion clinic and I was on the, you know, turning the radio dial, looking for some music to get my mind off of it. And I heard your voice and I stopped and, uh, I pulled off the road and went back home.
SPEAKER 01 :
And now Mary here’s alive. And he also waded into some unfamiliar territory, some, some waters that were not necessarily navigated at the time. And I’m thinking of course, of the, uh, the Stregi family, Gary, you know, uh, John and Marlene Stregi and their daughter, Hannah. And of course, Dr. Dobson got to know the Stregis when they reached out. And I thought, how many thousands of these kids can thank James Dobson for going on the radio, for going to Congress, for testifying and saying, this is human life too. These children deserve to have a chance to be born. But Dr. Dobson knew it was the right thing to do.
SPEAKER 04 :
It wasn’t. Yes, it was the right thing to do. But even now, it’s controversial among some believers. Some people think that’s justifying the frozen embryos and all the rest of that. But I think the point here is that even in the very controversial issues, Dr. Dobson would not shy away from them. You know, the typical thing with politicians or unfortunately, even some church leaders is they stay away from anything controversial, which means they stay away from anything that matters. Dr. Dobson would look at the issue and He would seek the counsel and advice of Shirley and his family and his team, and he would go on his knees in prayer to God for guidance. And once he felt that he had his marching orders, then it was full speed ahead. You know, the other thing that I was thinking about just in the last 24 hours is things in America have become a lot more difficult for women and children. There’s all kinds of reasons for that. If you listen to family talk, you hear a lot of those reasons being talked about. But what Dr. Dobson warned about 30 years ago is, quit doing this, quit doing that. You’re putting women and children at risk. And that was a lonely voice. Even the feminists would disagree that somehow women certain things were putting women at risk. But we see it with our own eyes. He was always a champion of women and children. He got very little credit for that from his opponents, but it was something that was important to him to defend those that are often defenseless.
SPEAKER 01 :
Gary Bauer is with me today here on this special edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk. I’m Roger Marsh. Dr. Dobson has gone on to glory and received his final healing and eternal reward. And we are remembering him in these moments here that are just pretty raw for both of us. As you can tell, Gary and I are both at home. We’re having this conversation here just on an app that is allowing us to do this broadcast and remembering Gary would say his friend, and I would easily say mentor from my relationship with Dr. Dobson. Gary, in the final moments we have together, I want you to do two things for us, if you would. First of all, how are you remembering the legacy of Jim Dobson personally, because you guys were friends? But then also, what do you think Dr. Dobson’s legacy will be? I mean, is it possible to even describe it in a half-hour radio broadcast on the impact on the culture and the impact on the church, too, especially where the church kind of stands right now here in 2025?
SPEAKER 04 :
I was searching after I got the news for a verse that came to mind. And let me just read it. I just think it describes so well what’s happened. It’s Hebrews 12, verses 22 and 23. But you and I, I’m thinking of Dr. Dobson, but Dr. Dobson has come to Mount Zion. to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Dr. Dobson has come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly to the church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. And I think that verse really describes his legacy. I mean, that verse reflects what he devoted his life to. When I look at my own life, and I’m getting up in years, it’s hard for me to imagine my life without Dr. Dobson in it, beginning again back when I was in the White House. But then the book we wrote together a couple of years ago, I came back alongside of him as he was promoting the idea of Christian citizenship. which is so important and it’s important to the James Dobson Family Institute. And so I’ve been helping in that role. But I believe when a fair history is written, the legacy will be that Dr. Dobson basically in his own way started the pro-family movement. He made it a force in America. And I believe America, God’s first is the only hope for the world, but America is a close second in doing what we’ve done as a country and spreading the gospel of showing people that liberty is possible only if you’re a virtuous people. He was the voice for that. And I think that without him, there’s a lot of other groups that would have never been formed. And I think maybe the country would already be gone. So to me, that’s the legacy he has. And it’s what I’ll always remember that of all the people I could choose to be in a foxhole with, I can’t come up with a better person to be looking at in that foxhole than him. James Dobson.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, that certainly is a beautiful thought from Scripture. And of course, on a very solemn day where we’re remembering our good friend and mentor, Dr. James Dobson, and celebrating his eternal healing from the illnesses and the many physical struggles that he battled in his life here on earth. And I’m Roger Marsh, along with Dr. Dobson’s good friend and colleague, Gary Bauer. Remembering the Life of James C. Dobson today on this special edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk. Now, this being the 15th anniversary of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute for the past several weeks, we’ve been encouraging you as a listener and supporter of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk to go to drjamesdobson.org and leave your fondest memories of how the ministry has impacted you over the past 15 years or so. Well, now that Dr. Dobson has received his eternal reward, This is a perfect opportunity for you to let us know how this ministry has impacted your life. And we encourage you to go to drjamesdobson.org. And when you’re online with us, you’ll find a couple of different ways that you can memorialize Dr. Dobson’s legacy. Share how your marriage has been impacted for the better. We know hundreds of thousands of people have benefited from one of the more than 70 books that Dr. Dobson has written about marriage, about parenting. I think of the Nightlight series. that help parents and married couples really draw closer to each other by drawing closer to God. So you can leave your recollection, your memory, if you will, at drjamesdobson.org and you can do so either by writing out a memory there on the page or you can also leave an audio version, or even if you’d like to record a video and upload it there, we would love to receive all of those. And also keep in mind, too, that this is a dynamic legacy we’re talking about here. As Gary mentioned, Dr. James Dobson wrote extensively. He did lots of video and audio presentations, and all of them are preserved here in the archives here at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. And this is a dynamic legacy that he’s left. We are continuing on in the work because this is what God called Dr. Dobson to do, is to do the work of the evangelist here, and then to have that work continue on. So we appreciate hearing from you and how you’re praying for us and also supporting our ministry as well in those efforts as we move into the next phase of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute. By the way, you can give a gift, a memorial gift in honor of Dr. Dobson at drjamesdobson.org. You can also call a member of our constituent care team at 877-732-6825. or if you’d like to write your memories and put it on a nice card and send it to us, our ministry mailing address is Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, P.O. Box 39000, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80949. Shortly before he entered into eternity, Dr. Dobson came into the studio one afternoon and shared with us some thoughts that we shared at the beginning of the program. And as we conclude today’s special edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, we return to those words from Dr. Dobson once again.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, hello, everyone. My name is James Dobson, and I sat down and wrote something 40 years ago that I’ve kept, and you might find it interesting. I want to share it with you today. It starts like this. I have concluded that the accumulation of wealth, even if I could achieve it, is an insufficient reason for living. When I reach the end of my days, a moment or two from now, I must look backward on something more meaningful than the pursuit of houses and land and machines and stocks and bonds, nor is fame of any lasting benefit. I will consider my earthly existence to have been wasted unless I can recall a loving family, a consistent investment in the lives of people, and an earnest attempt to serve the God who made me. And nothing else makes much sense.
SPEAKER 04 :
Only Dr. Dobson could perfectly describe what he modeled his life on. And I saw it time and time again where he kept focused on what was important, faith, family, and freedom. He can’t be replaced, but his legacy is going to live on. We hope and pray you will continue to support his legacy and work going forward.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, thank you, Gary. And thank you, Dr. James Dobson, for a life well lived. I’m Roger Marsh, and on behalf of all of us here at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, thank you so much for your prayers and your continued support of our ministry. And be sure to join us again next time right here for another edition of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, the voice you can still trust for the family you love. This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
