The Rev. Robert H. Schuller has died from esophageal cancer, a form of the disease that is on the rise.

Schuller built the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove but his ministry was destroyed by family discord and financial ruin, the Los Angeles Times reports. He was 88.

Schuller, who was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2013, died Thursday morning at a nursing facility in Artesia, his daughter Carol Milner said.

Over the past 25 years, the frequency of some esophageal cancers have risen dramatically, according to WebMD.

This year, about 14,550 people will be diagnosed with one of the two forms of cancer of the esophagus — squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma.