It’s been a bit over two years since the news broke, but people are still searching for the specifics. Honestly, it’s one of those deaths that shifted the ground for a lot of folks, even those who never stepped foot in a Presbyterian church. If you're looking for the short answer: Tim Keller died on May 19, 2023. He was 72.
But a date on a calendar doesn’t really tell the whole story. For a man who spent his life talking about the "reason for God" and how to face suffering without losing your mind, the way he went out was, well, pretty much exactly how he preached. He didn't just fade away; he kind of leaned into the exit.
The Timeline: When Did Tim Keller Die and What Led to It?
The news didn't come out of nowhere. Back in June 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic chaos, Keller told the world he had Stage IV pancreatic cancer. If you know anything about that diagnosis, you know it’s usually a fast-moving train.
Most people don't get three years.
He did, though. He spent those years in and out of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. He did the rounds: chemotherapy, immunotherapy, the whole exhausting gauntlet. There was actually a point in 2022 where things looked remarkably good—he mentioned that immunotherapy had basically nuked 99% of the tumors. But cancer is a persistent beast. By March 2023, new tumors cropped up in what he called "fairly inconvenient places."
By May 2023, the medical options had basically run dry. On May 18, he was discharged from the hospital to go home for hospice care. He knew the end was right there. His son, Michael Keller, shared that his dad spent those final hours praying.
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He died the next morning, Friday, May 19, at his home in New York City.
The Final Moments in Manhattan
There’s something remarkably quiet about how it ended. According to his family, Tim waited until he was alone with his wife, Kathy. She’s the one who was with him through the whole ride—from planting Redeemer Presbyterian in 1989 to the very end. She kissed him on the forehead, and he took his last breath.
No fanfare. Just a quiet room in the city he loved.
What He Said Right Before the End
A lot of people get weird about death. They avoid it or sugarcoat it. Keller did the opposite. One of the things that went viral shortly after he passed was a quote his son shared. Tim apparently said: "There is no downside for me leaving, not in the slightest."
Talk about confidence.
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He also had a final prayer that his family made public. He thanked God for his family and the people who prayed for him, but he basically said he was ready to go. "I can't wait to see Jesus. Send me home," he prayed.
For a guy who made a career out of intellectual, high-level theology, that’s a pretty simple, raw way to go out. It resonated because it wasn't a "pastor" quote; it was a guy who actually believed what he’d been saying for forty years.
Why People Are Still Talking About It
You might wonder why a pastor’s death still trends or why folks are still asking "when did Tim Keller die" years later. It’s because he occupied a weird, unique space in American culture. He wasn't the "fire and brimstone" guy, and he wasn't the "prosperity gospel" guy either.
He was the "intellectual" guy.
He started a church in Manhattan when everyone told him it was a terrible idea. "New Yorkers don't go to church," they said. He proved them wrong by treating skeptics with respect. He didn't shout; he argued. He used C.S. Lewis and Tolkien and secular philosophy to explain the Bible. Because of that, his death felt like the end of an era for a specific kind of thoughtful Christianity.
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A Legacy of Books and Sermons
Even though he's gone, the "Tim Keller" machine hasn't really stopped. He wrote 31 books. The Reason for God and The Prodigal God are still massive sellers. If you go on YouTube or Spotify today, his sermons are still getting thousands of hits. People are still discovering him.
What We Can Learn From His Journey
Looking back at the timeline of his illness and death, there are a few things that actually stick with you, whether you're religious or not.
- He didn't fake it. He talked openly about "scanxiety"—that gut-punch feeling of waiting for test results. He admitted he was scared sometimes.
- He leaned into his relationships. He often said that the cancer actually made his marriage with Kathy stronger because they stopped sweating the small stuff.
- He stayed productive. He wrote his last two books while literally undergoing cancer treatment.
If you’re looking for a way to process his work or just want to see what the fuss was about, honestly, the best place to start isn't a biography. It's his book On Death. He wrote it before he knew he was dying, which is kind of ironic. It’s short, punchy, and doesn't pull any punches about how we're all eventually going to face the same thing he did in May 2023.
Moving Forward Without the "C.S. Lewis of the 21st Century"
The world feels a bit different without his voice popping up in The Atlantic or The New York Times. But the date—May 19—now serves as a bit of a marker for his followers. It’s a day for people to reflect on his "Gospel in Life" philosophy.
If you want to dive deeper into his final thoughts, you should check out the "Gospel in Life" podcast archives. They’ve kept his sermons available, and honestly, listening to the ones he gave after his diagnosis provides a whole different layer of meaning. He sounded like a man who knew exactly where he was going.
Take the next step: If you're curious about his perspective on mortality, pick up a copy of Hope in Times of Fear. It was written during his cancer battle and gives a first-hand look at how he reconciled his faith with a terminal diagnosis.