Denise “Vanity” Mathews Funeral Information

Radio Facts: Feb 24, 2016 – Hard to believe she’s been gone for four years. The funeral for ordained minister, Denise Katrina Matthews will be held on Saturday, February 27th, 2016, 11 a.m. at 33700 Alvarado-Niles Rd, Union City, CA. The service is open to the public. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Jesus Christ for all Nations.

Denise Matthews died Feb. 15, 2016 at a hospital in Fremont, Calif. She was 57. Gisela Hernandez, spokeswoman for Washington Hospital Health Care System in Fremont, CA, confirmed her death. The cause was due to a long battle with kidney-related health problems.

As the former artist and actress known as Vanity, she performed with Prince and appeared in the films, “Klondike Fever,” “The Last Dragon,” and “Action Jackson” in the 1980s and early 1990s.

“When I was Vanity, it was all about me,” Matthews said in 1999. “But when I’m preaching the word of God, it’s Jesus Christ speaking through me.”

When she was 18-years-old, Denise Matthews was crowned “Miss Niagara Hospitality” in Ontario, Canada.

“She was very talented and beautiful,” stated Niagara Falls city councillor, Joyce Morocco who knew Matthews since she was in high school. “When she started modeling you just knew she was going to go places.”

Denise Katrina Matthews was born on Jan. 4, 1959, in Niagara Falls, Ontario. She was the daughter of Helga Senyk and James Levia Matthews. She worked as a model in Canada before moving to the United States and settling in Fremont, CA.

Twenty-three years after doctors said she had 3 days to live, the ordained minister went on to preach to millions around the country. She is her survived by her mother, Helga Senyk, and sisters, Renay Matthews, Patricia Dalton Matthews, and DeBorah Matthews-Brown.