The Fight Over Billy Graham’s Burial Site — And He’s Not Dead Yet!

Even though Billy Graham is still alive, his family is embroiled in a fight over where he and his wife, Ruth, will be buried.  The following excerpts are from AP, Son’s squabbling over Bill Graham’s Burial Site, DallasNews.com, Dec. 13, 2006:

The uncomfortable topic of where aging evangelist Billy Graham and his wife Ruth will be buried has moved into a public setting after a newspaper reported the family is split over the issue.

Mark DeMoss, a spokesman for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said Wednesday there has been no final decision on where the 88-year-old Graham will be buried after he dies – whether near his home in the mountains of western North Carolina or at a museum and library being built at the association’s headquarters in Charlotte, near where Graham grew up.  * * *

During the meeting at the elder Grahams’ mountain home in Montreat, Cornwell joined Ned Graham in lobbying Billy Graham against a burial at the museum. The story said Ned Graham and his older brother Franklin, 54, who has succeeded Billy Graham as head of the association, are at odds on the issue. The story said Franklin Graham supports a Charlotte burial.  * * *  The paper said Billy Graham was noncommittal during that meeting.

Special thanks to Roxanna Olvera (Wolfish & Newman, Addison, Texas) for bringing this story to my attention.