FILE – Phil Robertson of the Duck Dynasty reality television program speaks at a Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, campaign stop, Feb. 19, 2016, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Phil Robertson, who turned his small duck calling interest in the sportsman’s paradise of northern Louisiana into a big business and conservative cultural phenomenon, died Sunday at 79.

Robertson’s family announced in December on their Unashamed With the Robertson Family podcast that the patriarch of the clan had Alzheimer’s disease. The statement on social media from Robertson’s daughter-in-law didn’t mention how he died.

“Thank you for the love and prayers of so many whose lives have been impacted by his life saved by grace, his bold faith, and by his desire to tell e

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