News / People
Ruth Graham, wife of Billy Graham, died at 87
Ruth Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, died on Thursday at the age of 87. In 1974 Ruth Graham suffered from a serious fall from a tree as she was trying to fix a swing for her grandchildren. As a result she suffered from degenerative osteoarthritis of the back and neck and was bedridden for months.
Two weeks ago she was treated for pneumonia. After talking with her family she requested to stop being fed nutrients through a feeding tube. Family spokesman Larry Ross said she stopped receiving nutrients for the past few days.
Ruth Graham grew up in China. Her father, L. Nelson Bell, was the head of the Presbyterian hospital in Qingiiang. She met Billy Graham while they both attended Wheaton College in Illinois. After they graduated in 1943 Ruth gave up her dream of foreign missions to marry him. The couple had five children Franklin, Nelson, Virginia, Anne, and Ruth. She once commented in her husbands absences due to his evangelism saying "I’d rather have a little of Billy than a lot of any other man."
Although Billy Graham was a Baptist minister, Ruth Graham remained a Presbyterian throughout her life. She declined baptism by immersion and still taught a Sunday school at a Presbyterian church.
She was the author or co-author of 14 books and helped establish the Ruth and Billy Graham Children’s Health Center and the Billy Graham Training Center. Her books included poetry, and "Footprints of a Pilgrim", and autobiography.
"Ruth was my life partner, and we were called by God as a team. 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," Billy Graham said after her death.
"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 and Billy Graham's son Franklin commented on the impact his mother had on his father saying "My father would not have been what he is today if it wasn't for my mother."
"She stood strong for what was biblically correct and accurate. She would help my father prepare his messages, listening with an attentive ear, and if she saw something that wasn't right or heard something that she felt wasn't as strong as it could be, she was a voice to strengthen this or eliminate that. Every person needs that kind of input in their life, and she was that to my father."
A public memorial service was planned by the family at the Montreat Conference Center on Saturday at 2 p.m. On Sunday a private service will be held in Charlotte. Ruth Graham passed away surround by her husband and five children.
