CHARLOTTE -- The Rev. Billy Graham's children remembered "America's Pastor" on Friday as a man devoted to spreading the Gospel, living his life at home as he preached it in stadiums, with a personable humility and an unwavering focus on the Bible. As his oldest son told the funeral congregation, "There weren't two Billy Grahams."
The funeral for Rev. Billy Graham was held Friday afternoon, nearly a week and a half after he passed away at age 99 at his home in Montreat.
The invitation-only funeral took place in a tent outside of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte. The tent fit roughly 2,300 people, with many notable figures in attendance including President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
Rev. Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's oldest son, gave the main sermon at the funeral service.
His adult children — all speakers or preachers in their own right — recalled being taught by their parents how to read Scripture aloud and deliver sermons, but also taking quiet walks with their father and feeling his embrace even when they made mistakes.
After the funeral service, Graham was buried in the prayer garden on the northeast side of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Library next to his wife Ruth, who passed away in 2007.
Billy Graham's casket was made by inmates at the Louisiana State Prison at Angola in 2006.
Dr. Donald Wilton and Dr. David Bruce conducted the interment service in the prayer garden. Dr. Wilton visited Rev. Graham almost weekly and Graham became a member of his church in Spartanburg.
Friday's goodbye also emphasized the message that only Graham's earthly journey has come to an end, a point underscored by Franklin Graham as he stood behind the same pulpit his father used in the 1990s.
Graham recalled one of his father's frequent sayings that people shouldn't believe it when they hear the famous evangelist had died: "He said: 'I'll be more alive than I am now. I'll have just changed addresses, that's all.'"
SINCE HIS DEATH:
Wednesday, Feb. 21 - Rev. Billy Graham died at 7:46 a.m. Body taken to Morris Funeral Home in Asheville.
Thursday, Feb. 22 - Billy Graham's casket was moved to the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in Asheville. Some family members paid respects in a private event.
Saturday, Feb. 24 - Private family prayer service held at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove. At 11 a.m., Graham's casket was transported in a ceremonial departure from Asheville to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Charlotte.
Monday-Tuesday, Feb. 26-27 - Public visitation was held at The Graham Homeplace at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte. Both former President George W. Bush and former president Bill Clinton visited to pay their respects.
Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 28 and March 1 - Graham's casket was taken to Washington, D.C., where he was afforded the rare tribute of lying in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Graham was only the fourth private person to lie in honor since 1998. The others were two U.S. Capitol Police officers who died in the line of duty in 1998 and civil rights hero Rosa Parks in 2005. On Thursday, the casket was transported back to Charlotte in preparation for the funeral.
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