Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun who spent her life serving the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying in India. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 and opened homes for people suffering from hunger, poverty, tuberculosis, and leprosy. For her humanitarian work helping the poorest of the poor, she received numerous honors including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. Mother Teresa passed away in 1997 at the age of 87 from heart failure after spending nearly 50 years serving the sick and disadvantaged in India.