Ruth Graham

{{Short description|American author (1920–2007)}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Ruth Graham
| image       = Reverend Billy Graham and Mrs. Ruth Graham with George W. Bush and his twin girls.jpg
| caption     = Graham (''left'') with her husband (''right'') and [[George W. Bush]] (''middle'') in 1983
| birth_name  = Ruth McCue Bell
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1920|6|10}}
| birth_place = [[Huai'an|Qingjiang]], [[Jiangsu]], [[Republic of China (1912–49)|Republic of China]]
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|2007|6|14|1920|6|10}}
| death_place = [[Montreat, North Carolina]], U.S.
| resting_place = [[Billy Graham Library]]
| occupation  = Philanthropist, poet, author, painter
| other_names = Ruth Bell Graham
| spouse      = {{marriage|[[Billy Graham]]|1943}}
| children    = 5, including [[Anne Graham Lotz|Anne]] and [[Franklin Graham|Franklin]]
| parents     = [[L. Nelson Bell]]<br />Virginia Leftwich
| website     = 
}}
'''Ruth McCue Bell Graham''' (June 10, 1920 – June 14, 2007) was a Chinese-born American Christian author, most well known as the wife of evangelist [[Billy Graham]]. She was born in [[Huai'an|Qingjiang]], [[Jiangsu]], [[Republic of China (1912–49)|Republic of China]], the second of five children. Her parents, Virginia Leftwich Bell and [[L. Nelson Bell]], were medical missionaries at the [[Presbyterian]] Hospital {{convert|300|mi|km}} north of [[Shanghai]]. At age 13 she was enrolled in [[Pyongyang Foreigners School|Pyeng Yang Foreign School]] in [[Pyongyang]], [[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea]], where she studied for three years. She completed her high school education at [[Montreat, North Carolina]], while her parents were there on furlough. She graduated from [[Wheaton College (Illinois)|Wheaton College]] in [[Wheaton, Illinois]].

The Grahams met at Wheaton College and were married in the summer of 1943, shortly after their graduation. Ruth Graham became a minister's wife for a brief period in [[Western Springs, Illinois]]. She lived out the rest of her life in Montreat, North Carolina. The Grahams have five children: Virginia (Gigi), [[Anne Graham Lotz|Anne]], Ruth, [[Franklin Graham|Franklin]], and Nelson Edman (Ned), 19 grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren.

Graham wrote [[#Bibliography|a number of books]], including some co-authored with her daughter Gigi Graham.

==Early life==
Ruth McCue Bell was born in [[Huai'an#Qingjiang City|Qingjiang]], [[Jiangsu]], [[Republic of China (1912–49)|China]] (now the main district of [[Huai'an]], [[Jiangsu]], China). Her parents, Virginia Myers (Leftwich) and Dr. [[L. Nelson Bell]], were American medical [[missionary|missionaries]] at the Presbyterian Hospital 300 miles north of [[Shanghai]].<ref name="latimes">[http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-graham15jun15,0,56499.story?page=1&coll=la-home-center ''Los Angeles'' "Ruth Graham, 87; had active role as wife of evangelist" June 15, 2007]</ref> She grew up in China in a deeply religious household.<ref name="wash">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061500196.html AP via ''Washington Post "Billy Graham's Wife Ruth Dies at 87" June 15, 2007]{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Graham studied for three years at a high school in [[Pyongyang]], now in North Korea, before graduating from a school in [[Montreat, North Carolina]], while her parents were on [[furlough]].<ref name="latimes"/>

==Married life==
Graham returned to the U.S. at the age of 17 in the fall of 1937, and enrolled at [[Wheaton College (Illinois)|Wheaton College]], outside [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], where she met Billy Graham. They married on August 13, 1943. In 1945, after a brief stint as a suburban pastor, her husband became an evangelist for [[Youth for Christ]]. The Grahams moved to [[Montreat, North Carolina|Montreat]] near her parents where the Grahams continued to live for the rest of their married life. Despite her husband being one of the world's most famous [[Baptists]], Graham remained a [[Presbyterian]] and often taught [[Sunday School]].<ref name="wash"/>

Between 1945 and 1958, Graham gave birth to five children, whom she raised – sometimes single-handedly – while her husband was away on extended national and international evangelistic crusades. Their three daughters and two sons are all actively involved in ministry, including eldest son [[Franklin Graham|Franklin]], who heads the [[Billy Graham Evangelistic Association]] (BGEA) founded by his father.<ref name="latimes"/>

==Ministry==
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = horizontal
| header   =
| image1   = Ruth and Billy Graham Congressional Gold Medal.jpg
| width1   = 160
| image2   = Ruth and Billy Graham Congressional Gold Medal (reverse).jpg
| width2   = 160
| footer   = 1996 Congressional Gold Medal coin shows Ruth and Billy Graham in profile (obverse); the Ruth and Billy Graham Children's Health Center in Asheville, North Carolina (reverse).
}}

In [[1959 in literature|1959]], Graham published her first book, ''Our Christmas Story'', an illustrated volume for children. She went on to write or co-write 13 other books, many of them works of poetry she wrote as an emotional release while her husband was so often on the road through the years.<ref name="latimes"/>

Graham was a vital part of Billy Graham's evangelistic career, and he turned to her for advice and input about many ministry decisions. One of the early uses of media by the BGEA was the "Hour of Decision" radio program begun in 1950, which she named. After her upbringing in China and high school experience in Korea, she continued to have compassion for the people of Asia. She encouraged her husband to visit and later accompanied him during his historic visits to the [[People's Republic of China]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2007}}

Graham's significant role in her husband's ministry was recognized in 1996, when they were jointly awarded the [[Congressional Gold Medal]] in a special ceremony in the [[U.S. Capitol Rotunda]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name="wash"/>

==Philanthropy==
In 1966, Graham founded the ''Ruth and Billy Graham Children's Health Center'' in [[Asheville, North Carolina]], with which she was actively involved until her death.<ref name="wash"/>

==Declining health and death==
{{wikinews|Ruth Bell Graham dies at 87}}
[[Image:Gravestone of Ruth Bell Graham IMG 4206.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Ruth Graham gravestone at Billy Graham Library in [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]], [[North Carolina]]]]
Graham had been in frail health since suffering spinal [[meningitis]] in 1995. This was exacerbated by a degenerative [[osteoarthritis]] of the back and neck that began with a fall while testing a swing she made for her grandchildren in 1974 that resulted in chronic back pain for many years. During the final months of her life, she was bedridden and had contracted [[pneumonia]].{{cn|date=May 2023}}

The day before Ruth Graham's death, Billy Graham released a statement through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association stating, "Ruth is my soul mate and best friend, and I cannot imagine living a single day without her by my side. I am more and more in love with her today than when we first met over 65 years ago as students at Wheaton College."<ref name="Christianity.com">{{cite web|url=http://christianity.com/Christian%20Foundations/The%20Essentials/11544172/|title=ORuth Bell Graham: A Legacy of Faith|access-date=2007-11-15}}</ref>

On Monday, June 11, at Graham's request and subsequent to consultation with her family, she was removed from life support. On June 13, 2007, following her decline into a semi-coma, her husband announced that he and his wife had decided to be buried beside each other at the [[Billy Graham Library]] in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]].<ref>
{{cite web
  | last =BGEA
  | title = Billy Graham Statement on Selection of Burial Site
  | publisher = Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
  | date = June 14, 2007
  | url =http://bgea.org/mediaRelations/pressReleases.asp?pr=201&src=6
  | access-date = 2007-06-14}}
</ref> She died at 5:05&nbsp;pm. EDT June 14, 2007, at the couple's home, ''Little Piney Cove'', in [[Montreat, North Carolina]], with her husband and five children at her bedside, four days after her 87th birthday.<ref>
{{cite web
 |last        = BGEA
 |title       = Ruth Bell Graham Dies
 |publisher   = Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
 |date        = June 14, 2007
 |url         = http://www.billygraham.org/mediaRelations/pressReleases.asp?pr=203&src=6
 |access-date  = 2007-06-14
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070926221728/http://www.billygraham.org/mediaRelations/pressReleases.asp?pr=203&src=6
 |archive-date = September 26, 2007
}}
</ref> A private ceremony followed by burial on the grounds of the [[Billy Graham Library]] was held on Sunday, June 17, 2007.<ref>[http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19266612 Billy Graham's Wife Buried, nbcnews.com]</ref>

In a statement released from Wheaton College, Duane Litfin, president of the school, remarked, "Strong, steady, and dauntless, Ruth Bell Graham was the glue that held many of the parts of their lives together."<ref>[http://www.christianity.com/Christian%20Foundations/The%20Essentials/11544172/ Ruth Bell Graham: A Legacy of Faith]</ref>

==Bibliography==
Graham was a poet and writer, authoring or co-authoring 14 books, as well as a regular contributor for newspapers and magazines.
*''Our Christmas Story'', 1959
*''Family Bible Library'', 1971 (Board of Editorial Advisors)
*''Sitting by My Laughing Fire'', 1977 (revised 2006)
*''It's My Turn'', 1982
*''Legacy of a Pack Rat'', 1989
*''Prodigals and Those Who Love Them'', 1991
*''Clouds are the Dust of His Feet'', 1992
*''One Wintry Night'', 1994
*''Collected Poems'', 1997
*''Prayers from a Mother's Heart'', 1999
*''Footprints of a Pilgrim: The Life and Loves of Ruth Bell Graham'', 2001
*''Never Let It End: Poems of a Lifelong Love'', 2001

With [[Gigi Graham]]: 
*''Coffee and Conversation With Ruth Bell Graham and Gigi Graham Tchividjian'', 1997
*''Mothers Together'', 1998
*''A Quiet Knowing'', 2001

Her biography, ''[[A Time for Remembering]]'' (later reissued as ''[[Ruth: A Portrait]]''), was an early work of novelist [[Patricia Cornwell]].<ref>
{{cite book
  | last =Cornwell 
  | first =Patricia  
  | author-link =Patricia Cornwell
  | title =Ruth, A Portrait: The story of Ruth Bell Graham 
  | publisher =Galilee Trade; New Ed edition
  | date =October 20, 1998
  | isbn = 978-0-385-48900-3
  | page =304   }}
</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.billygraham.org/ Billy Graham Evangelistic Association]
*[http://www.billygraham.org/specialsections/rbg/RBG_default.asp Memorial at Billy Graham Evangelistic Association]
*[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1939959.ece Obituary in ''The Times'']

{{Billy Graham}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Ruth Bell}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Presbyterians]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Presbyterians]]
[[Category:American expatriates in China]]
[[Category:American Presbyterians]]
[[Category:American women non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Burials in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Graham family]]
[[Category:People from Buncombe County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:People from Huai'an]]
[[Category:Presbyterian writers]]
[[Category:Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from North Carolina]]