Green Country Sculptor Finishes Oral Roberts Statue Just Before Roberts' Death

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- A Green Country artist has created a lasting tribute to a pioneer preacher which has been years in the making.

Brenda Angel Copeland started working on this bust of Oral Roberts back in 1997.

She finished a wax version then ORU hired a third party to finish it in bronze.

The problem is, that person never did and the wax sculpture was lost for all these years.

Copeland told us the university contacted her a few weeks ago, saying it had found the bust and wanted her to finish it.

She got the job done Tuesday just before hearing the news of Roberts' death.

"We put it in the car and from my understanding, it was about 30 minutes after that that Oral passed away because when we arrived back in Tulsa, we started getting messages and phone calls about him," Copeland said.

Copeland is disappointed Roberts will not see the finished piece but says she is honored to complete the sculpture as a tribute to Roberts' life.