Billy Graham touched lives in Dayton region
‘America’s Pastor’ filled stadiums around world, counseled presidents.
The Rev. Billy Graham, who counseled U.S. presidents, filled stadiums with followers and touched the lives of many in this region, died Wednesday
Graham, often referred to as “America’s Pastor,” died at his home in Montreat, North Carolina. He was 99. In recent years, Graham had suffered from cancer, pneumonia and other illnesses.
“He welcomed other people from other denominations,” said Dan DeWitt, director of the Center for Biblical Apologetics and Public Christianity at Cedarville University. “That kind of inclusion inside of Christianity made him a winsome voice.”
Graham built evangelicalism into a force that rivaled Protestantism and Roman Catholicism in the U.S. His leadership summits and “crusades” in more than 185 countries and territories forged powerful global links among conservative Christ i ans a nd threw a lifeline to believers in
the communist bloc.
In his death, Graham inspired people from around the world — including some in Southwest Ohio — to share their memories and praise for him.
Tributes to Graham poured in from major leaders, with President Donald Trump tweeting: “The GREAT Billy Graham is dead. There was nobody like him! He will be missed by Christians and all religions. A very special man.” Former President Barack Obama said Graham “gave hope and guidance to generations of Americans.”
Locally, Springboro Police Chief Jeff Kruithoff attended a Billy Graham Crusade as a teenager in Michigan in the 1970s and today serves his ministries.
Kruithoff said he remembers watching Graham Crusades on television with his parents and though he never met Graham, he did meet his son, the Rev. Franklin Graham, while responding to Hurricane Harvey in Houston on behalf of Billy Graham Ministries.
“He was an incredible man of integrity for his entire life. So many people can point to a memory of him,” Kruithoff said. “The passing of a truly Christian man.”
Toula Stamm, WHIO radio’s first female producer, recalled when both Graham and former President Gerald Ford visited Dayton in the summer of 1977 for a “Bogey Busters” golf tournament.
At the tournament, Stamm asked Graham to be interviewed on the show “Conversation Piece,” hosted by Lou Emm. He also agreed with Stamm to later be interviewed over the phone on Phil Donahue’s show on WHIO radio.
“I was able to book Billy Graham to be on the phone from his home in North Carolina. That was a really big get,” Stamm said. “He was so gracious and I’m just so sad (he died).”
Springboro pastor Mark Goins called Graham a “Godly man” and remembered being a part of a crusade in St. Louis.
“I had the privilege of being a part of his crusade in St. Louis in 1999,” said Goins, associate pastor at Newspring Chruch in Springboro. “Always appreciated the fact he lived what he preached.”
Though Graham didn’t focus on particular denominations, he was ordained a Southern Baptist and later joined a then-emerging movement called New Evangelicalism that abandoned the narrowness of fundamentalism. Fundamentalists excoriated him for his new direction and broke with him when he agreed to work with more liberal Christians in the 1950s.
Graham came from a fundamentalist background that expected true Bible-believers to stay clear of Christians with even the most minor differences over Scripture. But he came to reject that view for a more ecumenical approach.
“The ecumenical movement has broadened my viewpoint and I recognize now that God has his people in all churches,” Graham said in the early 1950s.
He served as a confidant to U.S. presidents from Dwight Eisenhower to George W. Bush. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. When the Billy Graham Museum and Library was dedicated in 2007 in Charlotte, North Carolina, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton attended.
By his final crusade in 2005 in New York City, he had preached in person to more than 210 million people worldwide. No evangelist is expected to have his level of influence again.
Graham was born on Nov. 7, 1918, on his family’s dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina. Despite his fame and profound impact, he will be laid to rest in a simple plywood coffin built by some unexpected craftsmen.
Convicted murderer Richard Liggett led a team of prisoners at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in building caskets for both Graham and his wife, Ruth, The Associated Press reported in 2007. Ruth Graham died in June 2007 at age 87. The prisoners are known to have built a coffin for only one other person.
Awana Clubs International ministry co-founder Art Rorheim was buried in one earlier this year, said his granddaughter, Kim Ahlgrim, director of The Cove at Cedarville University. Rorheim, 99, died in January, according to his obituary.
Ahlgrim called the casket “a beautifacl act of love from these men who had appreciation for him.”
“Our understanding is they’ve only done it twice,” Ahlgrim said. “They built a casket for my grandfather and a casket for Billy Graham (and his wife).”