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Technorati"Ruth's marriage to her husband Billy was a true and loving partnership," said President Bush in a statement Thursday. "As the wife of the world's most beloved evangelist, she inspired people around the world with her humor, intelligence, elegance, and kindness. Laura and I offer our prayers and condolences to Billy and the Graham family."
Other tributes are continuing to flow in from family, friends and the rest of the nation.
"I have admired her all my life, and particularly as a pastor’s wife, there was a great deal to glean from how she supported her husband’s ministry," said Kay Warren, wife of Pastor Rick Warren at Saddleback Community Church. "She lived a life of servanthood, and in doing so was a leader and a role model to so many others. Rick and I extend our deepest sympathies to the entire Graham family as they mourn the passing of their wife and mother.”
“We appreciate what Billy Graham has done in the world and what Ruth has done supporting her husband in every way,” said neighbor Katherine Currie-Neil. The Grahams have lived in Montreat, N.C., a town of about 600 people, ever since their marriage. “And we try to respect their position as world leaders but also as Christian leaders. And we share their Christian values, and we appreciate the fact that they are here,” Currie-Neil added.
About 180 members of the Graham and Bell families are expected to arrive in Montreat on Friday for a family dinner, according to News 14 Carolina. A public funeral service honoring Ruth Graham is scheduled for Saturday in Montreat. A private, family-only, interment service will be held the following day at her final resting place in the Prayer Garden on the grounds of the Billy Graham Library.
Ruth fell into a coma Wednesday morning. She was no longer receiving nutrients through a feeding tube and had been experiencing episodes of dropping blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat, according to a statement. In recent weeks, she had asked that the tube providing her with food and fluids be removed. She died at the age of 87 in her Montreat home at 5:05 p.m. on Thursday.
While Billy Graham looks forward "even more" to the day he can join her in Heaven, the evangelist is currently doing well despite the loss, according to family spokesman Larry Ross.
“Though Mr. Graham is heavy of heart, he rested well through the evening and he’s been buoyed by the presence of his family,” Ross said. “While he’s grieving the loss, obviously, he’s at peace with the knowledge of what he’s faithfully preached for more than six decades.
“He’s confident of his wife’s faith in Christ and together their hope in Heaven and the fact that they’re going to be reunited one day in Heaven.”
