More than a week of events will take place in North Carolina honoring the life of Rev. Billy Graham, including a public viewing that the public can attend, before he's finally laid to rest on March 2.
Mark DeMoss, the Graham family spokesman, gave details on Graham's funeral and his final moments at a news conference Wednesday night, about 12 hours after the famous evangelist passed away at the age of 99.
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Graham's Final Moments:
DeMoss said Graham died at 7:46 a.m. Wednesday at his home in Montreat, NC, a small town nearly 20 miles northeast of Asheville.
He reportedly died peacefully in his sleep. None of his family was at the home at the time, but a nurse was in the house.
DeMoss didn't answer questions about exactly what Graham died from, but instead quoted the reverend's doctor, who arrived 20 minutes after Graham died, as saying "he just wore out."
Rev. Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son who's carried on the family legacy of evangelizing, got a call from longtime Graham assistant Dr. David Bruce informing him of his father's passing. Franklin Graham was in Dallas, Texas at the time, and immediately began the process of returning to North Carolina.
Franklin Graham would always visit his dad on Sundays, DeMoss stated, and had seen him just this past weekend. It would be the last time father and son were together.
DeMoss said Graham was diagnosed with Parkinson's like symptoms in the 1990s, but hadn't been hospitalized since 2013. In recent years, he wasn't quite the same man remembered by millions as "America's Pastor."
"]He would be] in an out of awareness," DeMoss said family members had told him. "Sometimes he would respond if someone came in the room and called his name, sometimes he would not."
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He hadn't really entertained guests, other than family, in recent years. "He'd been quite quite in recent months," DeMoss said.
His last public crusade--massive events that would last as long as two weeks in once city--was in 2007 in New York City.
Related Coverage: Rev. Billy Graham Held Two Crusades in Columbia
Funeral Arrangements/Public & Private Events:
Graham's body is currently being held at Morris Funeral Home in Asheville.
Thursday, February 22:
On Thursday, his body will be moved to the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove in Asheville. He will arrive at the facility at 3:30 p.m. He'll be received by family members at that time.
Saturday, February 24:
On Saturday, at 10:45 a.m., there will be a prayer service for immediate family members. At 11:25 a.m. a motorcade will leave the center, and staff and friends will give a goodbye.
The motorcade will take his body to the Billy Graham headquarters in Charlotte, and will arrive there at 3 p.m. A video feed of the motorcade will be publicly available.
Once he arrives, there will be a private viewing at the Billy Graham library. There will be no public events on Sunday.
Monday, February 26 & Tuesday, February 27:
Beginning Monday, Graham will lie in repose for at least two days, although DeMoss says that could be adjusted due to demand. The viewing hours will be between 8 a.m and 10 p.m.
It will not be open casket.
DeMoss said this is the best time for the public to pay their respects.
Public parking will not be available on site. Shuttles will operate from the Operation Christmas Child Processing Center on Forest Point Blvd in Charlotte as well as 5613 Wilkinson Blvd.
Wednesday, February 28 & Thursday, March 1:
Rev. Graham's body will be brought to Washington, DC, where he will lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol.
Visitors to the capitol will then have a chance to pay their respects.
Friday, March 2:
Graham's funeral will be n invitation-only ceremony that begins at 12 p.m. on Friday.
It will be held in a large tent in the main parking lot of the Billy Graham Library. DeMoss called it a fitting tribute, since Graham's public ministry was launched in a tent in 1949.
Only about 2,300 people will be allowed to be there, and those people will be notified by phone or e-mail. The public should not call about tickets.
It's expected to last about 90 minutes, and the funeral message will be given by Franklin Graham. Billy Graham's other children are also expected to speak.
Invitations have been sent to President Donald Trump. Vice-President Mike Pence, and the former presidents. As of Wednesday night, it wasn't clear which ones planned to attend.
DeMoss said most of the plans were developed 10 years ago by Billy Graham and Cliff Barrows, the longtime music and program director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Graham and Barrows personally selected the hymns that will be sung, and the ceremony is designed to reflect and reinforce the gospel message.
Burial:
Afterward, he'll be buried beside his wife, Ruth, in the prayer garden at the northeast side of the library. Ruth Graham passed away in 2007 at the age of 87.
The internment is private, but there will be a public video feed of the event.
Speakers will include Dr. Donald Wilton of First Baptist Church in Spartanburg and Dr. David Bruce, executive assistant to Rev. Graham. In his later years, Graham would regularly watch a TV feed of Wilton's sermons, and became a member of First Baptist Church of Spartanburg in 2006.
Billy Graham's casket:
There's an interesting story behind the vessel that will actually contain Graham's body.
It was made by inmates in Angola, Louisiana in 2006. Franklin Graham had preached there in 2005, and learned that the inmates made caskets. He asked them to create one for his mother and father.
It's a pine plywood coffin with a wooden cross nailed to the top.
A floral arrangement of white lilies in the shape of a cross will accompany the casket when it is stationary. It's the same arrangement the Graham's would send to other families who lost love ones.
Public Information:
The public can visit Rev. Graham's website for more information in the coming days or call 877-247-2426.
