Dan Celia, president and CEO of Financial Issues Stewardship Ministries, died on Wednesday, March 30, at the age of 68 after a battle with long-term health issues.
Celia spent six weeks in the hospital battling COVID-19 before his death. He is now with his Lord and Savior, whom he loved and served so well.
Celia was a dedicated Christian and an entrepreneur and businessman for 35 years. He founded eight companies and co-founded two. In 1999, he sold his small trust company to begin his ministry. It was then he developed and used a biblically accountable financial management system with great success.
He started a part-time broadcast ministry in 1997 and saw the Lord expand it and overwhelmingly bless Financial Issues Stewardship Ministries. On his radio program, he interviewed news personalities and pundits such as Steve Forbes, Ben Stein, T. Boone Pickens, Tony Perkins, John Allison, Rayola Dougher, Congress members and presidential candidates.
He was proud of his partnership with the American Family Association and served on the organization’s board of directors.
Celia’s financial advice legacy lives on through the hundreds of thousands of people he reached across America with the message of honoring God through biblical stewardship.
He was a great example to everyone who knew him and followed his ministry. He was steadfast in his service to Christ, love for family and pride in America. His life mission permeated everything he did: to expose Jesus for all He is, all He can do and all that He means.
Celia was a well-trusted voice in finance, conservatism and Christianity. He was also a conference speaker, author of six books and served as executive producer on several video productions.
He was also proud of the ministries he chose to partner with, ensuring that he was equally yoked with those he promoted, including PreBorn, India Partners, Samaritan Ministries, American Family Foundation, Timothy Fund, Christian Community Credit Union and Liberty Counsel.
Celia held firmly to his values and lived his life unashamedly for the Lord. His desire was to obey God’s calling on his life and to praise and glorify Him through the multiple arenas in which he was involved.
“My greatest blessings worth talking about have been: Coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as a result of Charles Stanley’s Ministry, my marriage, children, grandchildren, receiving my second Master’s Degree in Theology, being ordained in 2001, and my service in the military from 1971 to 1977,” he once said. “Beyond that, the rest is insignificant.”
Throughout his ministry, Celia discussed his desire to be worthy to be called a son of Issachar, who, according to 1 Chronicles 12:32, were known as men who had “understanding of the times” they lived in.
Celia’s wife, Yvonne, is grateful for the many who stuck by her husband’s side throughout his illness and the length of his ministry.
“My family and myself would like to personally thank each and every one of you for your support, love and most of all prayers that we have felt so powerfully over the past six weeks,” she said in a letter to their ministry’s supporters. “I know that Dan, through the Lord’s still small voice, heard them as well.
“Thank you for listening to and gleaning from Dan,” her letter continued. “Thank you for honoring him with the encouragement you’ve been, something he cherished and never took for granted. Thank you for blessing us, his family, as you share in our grief yet celebrate a life so devoted to all of us.” {eoa}
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