Ruth Bell Graham June 10, 1920 -June 14, 2007

Ruth Graham IS DECEASED.

Billy Graham's Wife Ruth Dies

By MIKE BAKER

 

 

 

AP

MONTREAT, N.C. (AP) - Ruth Graham , who surrendered dreams of missionary work in Tibet to marry a suitor who became the world's most renowned evangelist, died Thursday. She was 87.

Graham died at 5:05 p.m. at her home at Little Piney Cove, surrounded by her husband and all five of their children, said a statement released by Larry Ross, Billy Graham's spokesman.

Billy Graham at Comatose Wife's Bedside

 

MONTREAT, N.C. (AP) - Ruth Graham , who surrendered dreams of missionary work in Tibet to marry a suitor who became the world's most renowned evangelist, died Thursday. She was 87.

Graham died at 5:05 p.m. at her home at Little Piney Cove, surrounded by her husband and all five children, said a statement released by Larry Ross, Billy Graham's spokesman.

"Ruth was my life partner, and we were called by God as a team," Billy Graham said in a statement. "No one else could have borne the load that she carried. She was a vital and integral part of our ministry, and my work through the years would have been impossible without her encouragement and support.

 

"I am so grateful to the Lord that He gave me Ruth, and especially for these last few years we've had in the mountains together. We've rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven."

Ruth Graham has been bedridden for months with degenerative osteoarthritis of the back and neck and underwent treatment for pneumonia two weeks ago. At her request, and in consultation with her family, she had stopped receiving nutrients through a feeding tube for the last few days, Ross said.

The family plans a private interment ceremony and a public memorial service. Those arrangement had yet to be made on Thursday.

As Mrs. Billy Graham, Ruth Graham could lay claim to being the first lady of evangelical Protestantism, but neither exploited that unique status nor lusted for the limelight.

Behind the scenes, however, Ruth Graham was considered her husband's closest confidant during his spectacular global career - rivaled only by her father, L. Nelson Bell, until his death in 1973.

Bell, a missionary doctor, headed the Presbyterian hospital in Qingjiang, China, that had been founded by the father of author Pearl Buck. Ruth grew up there and spent three high school years in what's now North Korea .

By MIKE BAKER

AP

MONTREAT, N.C. (AP) - Aging evangelist Billy Graham sat by his comatose wife's bedside with their five children Thursday at the couple's home in the mountains of western North Carolina. A family spokesman said she was no longer receiving nutrients through a feeding tube and her condition had worsened.

Ruth Graham , 87, was growing steadily weaker and experiencing episodes of dropping blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat, the statement said.

She has been bedridden for months with degenerative osteoarthritis of the back and neck. On Wednesday, her husband had said she "is close to going home to heaven."

"Ruth is my soul mate and best friend, and I cannot imagine living a single day without her by my side," said Billy Graham, who is 88 and ailing himself with prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease. "I am more in love with her today than when we first met over 65 years ago as students at Wheaton College."

Ruth Graham underwent treatment for pneumonia two weeks ago. When she celebrated her birthday Sunday, she was alert, but she slipped into the coma Wednesday morning, said Graham's spokesman, Larry Ross. A later statement said she was experiencing periods of "semi-comatose" and "fluctuating levels of consciousness."

In recent weeks, she had asked that a stomach tube used to provide her with food and fluids be removed, Ross said Thursday.

When the tube accidentally fell out earlier this week, she again renewed that request. It was reinserted, but after consulting with family and her longtime physician, the Grahams decided to stop giving her nutrients.

"In consensus with her family and others who have observed her levels of deterioration, and in consultation with her physician, she has not received foods or fluid for several days," Ross said.

Graham is still receiving medication through the tube, which has allowed doctors to treat her at home rather than in a hospital, to help manage her pain and discomfort.

The news of her worsening condition came as Billy Graham announced that he and his wife would be buried in Charlotte, at the new Billy Graham Library, instead of at The Cove, a Bible training center near the Grahams' home outside of Asheville.

The Washington Post reported last year the couple's youngest son Ned, citing the wishes of his mother, opposed burying his parents at the library. Ruth Graham wanted to be buried at The Cove, he said.

In his Wednesday statement, Billy Graham said he and Ruth decided earlier - "after much prayer and discussion" - they would be laid to rest at the library in Charlotte, but kept that decision private until it became clear that Ruth was close to death.

Born in Charlotte, Graham traveled the world for decades building a revival-based ministry that reached hundreds of millions. He later returned to the Charlotte area, which became the home of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Three former presidents - Clinton, Carter, and George H.W. Bush  - helped Graham open the $27 million library and museum last month. Graham needed thehelp of son Franklin, who has taken over the leadership of the association, to reach his seat, and later quipped that the emotional ceremony had such an air of finality that, "I feel like I've been attending my own funeral."

When Graham and his wife die, Ross said, they will be buried at the foot of a cross-shaped walkway in the library's prayer garden - a symbolic decision to demonstrate both their reverence to God and their "ongoing witness of their faith in Christ."

On the Net:

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: http://www.billygraham.org

(This version CORRECTS to show that Ruth Graham's feeding tube is still inserted, but no longer being used to provide nutrients.)

Ruth Bell Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, was born at Qingjiang, Kiangsu, China, on June 10, 1920, as Ruth McCue Bell . Her parents, Dr. and Mrs. L. Nelson Bell, were medical missionaries at the Presbyterian Hospital 300 miles north of Shanghai. As a young girl there in the small hospital compound, Ruth first sensed the great calling to abandon all for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Her childhood was spent on China’s mission field with her parents and siblings Rosa, Virginia, and Clayton, surrounded by disease, despair, and the eventual disorder and chaos of civil wars. The suffering she observed only strengthened in her the conviction of mankind’s need for the Savior. Until her early adult years, she dreamed of serving as a single missionary in a far corner of the world -- the mountainous nation of Tibet.

At the age of 13, Ruth was sent to boarding school in Pyongyang, in modern-day North Korea, where she studied for three years. Under terrible homesickness, Ruth learned to overcome the loneliness of being far from loved ones by taking care of the needs of others, a skill that would serve her well in the coming years.

Ruth completed her high school education in Montreat, North Carolina, while her parents were there on furlough. In the fall of 1937, she enrolled at Wheaton College, outside Chicago, Illinois, and three years later was introduced to “Preacher,” the nickname other students gave the strapping Billy Graham from Charlotte, North Carolina.

The couple began courting, and so also began a struggle in Ruth between what she thought was her calling to the mission field and her blossoming love for the driven young evangelist. In late April 1941 after much struggling in prayer,Ruth realized her life’s mission was to be bound up in Billy’s passion forevangelism. Shortly after their graduation from Wheaton, the two were married in Montreat on August 13, 1943.

For a brief period, Ruth served as a pastor’s wife in Western Springs, Illinois, before Billy moved on to serve as an evangelist with Youth for Christ; as president of Northwestern Schools in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and eventually as evangelist and president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

With their increased time apart due to frequent preaching trips -- and with their first child on the way -- Ruth convinced Billy to move the family to Montreat, near her parents. Ruth’s ministry flourished in the mountains of western North Carolina, where she built the family homestead and raised five children: Virginia (Gigi), Anne, Ruth, Nelson Edman (Ned) and Franklin Graham. Ruth treasured her role as the strong woman behind “America’s Pastor” and was Billy’s closest confidant, most trusted advisor, and dearest friend. She loved to move behind the scenes, away from the spotlight, and helped him craft and research sermons and even books.

A gifted poet and writer herself, Ruth authoredor coauthored 14 books, including “Sitting by My Laughing Fire,” “Legacy of a Pack Rat,” “Prodigals and Those Who Love Them,” and “One Wintry Night.”

Graham lived with her husband at their house, Little Piney Cove, in Montreat, North Carolina. Her biography, A Time for Remembering (later reissued as Ruth: A Portrait), was an early work of novelist Patricia Cornwell.