Ruth Graham
Mrs. Ruth Graham; was the beautiful wife of evangelist Billy Graham. Ruth passed away at the age of 87, in 2007; her husband Billy known as the Pastor to Presidents passed away on February 21, 2018, he was 99.
- Mrs. Graham was born Ruth McCue Bell on June 10, 1920, in Qingjiang, Jiangsu, China. One of five children born to Christian medical missionaries Virginia Leftwich and Dr. L. Nelson Bell.
- Initially, Ruth studied high school in Pyongyang, Korea; subsequently attended high school in Montreat, North Carolina.
Billy & Children
- She met Billy while they both attended Wheaton College in 1937. They dated for six years before getting married on August 13, 1943.
- They had five children; Gigi (Virginia) born in 1945, Anne born in 1948, Ruth in 1950, Franklin born in 1952, and Nelson born in 1958.
- Ruth Graham was a poet and author; Our Christmas Story her first book was published in 1959; she went to write 11 books by herself and three with her daughter Gigi, Coffee and Conversation with Ruth Bell Graham and Gigi Graham Tchividjian, Mothers Together and Quiet Knowing.
- In addition to her books and poems, Mrs. Graham was highly involved in the Ruth and Billy Graham Children’s Health Center, which she founded in 1966.
Health & Death
- Her health began to deteriorate after she fell while testing a swing that she built for her grandchildren in 1974, the fall left her with chronic neck and back pain, later developed into degenerative osteoarthritis of the back and neck; Ruth also suffered from spinal meningitis and pneumonia during the finals months of her life.
- She fell into a semi-coma in the first days of June 2007; she had requested to be taken off life support, therefore her family kept their promised and took her from life support on June 11, 2007, she died three days later. Ruth was subsequently buried at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, where her husband was laid to rest by their children.
- All of her children served in the ministry; Gigi is an author and inspirational speaker; Ann now Ann Lotz runs the AnGel Ministries; in 1950, her daughter Ruth founded Ruth Graham & Friends Ministries; Frank is the CEO and President of Samaritan’s Purse and The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association; Nelson runs the East Gates Ministries International.
- Thru her children Ruth and Billy Graham had 19 grandchildren and even more great-grandchildren.
