Oprah Winfrey’s father dies days after family celebration

(Reuters) – Oprah Winfrey’s father, Vernon, has died, the doyenne of daytime talk said on her Instagram account on Saturday, just days after she said the family was able to honor her father.

“Yesterday with family surrounding his bedside, I had the sacred honor witnessing the man responsible for my life, take his last breath. We could feel Peace enter the room at his passing,” Winfrey wrote in the post.

Vernon Winfrey was born in 1933, she said.

TMZ reported Vernon, 88, who owned and operated Winfrey Barber & Beauty Shop for more than 50 years, died after a battle with cancer on Friday night.

Earlier this week, Oprah Winfrey said on Instagram the family had planned a surprise “Vernon Winfrey Appreciation Day” backyard barbecue to have his friends celebrate him as he was ill. Her father thought it was meant to be a Fourth of July celebration, she said in the video.

Oprah Winfrey parlayed a Chicago television talk show into a media empire that expanded into movie production, magazines, cable TV and satellite radio, making her one of the world’s richest women.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler)