CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Reverend Billy Graham once said he only wanted one word on his tombstone—preacher.
On Friday, Rev. Graham will be laid to rest in a private ceremony on the grounds of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte. In keeping with his wishes, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association told NBC Charlotte that the tombstone of America's pastor will indeed be straightforward.
Graham's tombstone will say "Billy Graham, Preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ," according to the BGEA, and will be accompanied by a single Bible verse. That verse, John 14:6, says “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”
Rev. Graham will be buried alongside his late wife Ruth, in a simple plywood casket handcrafted by inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana. During a visit to the prison in 2005, Rev. Franklin Graham learned that inmates built the caskets for inmates who died while serving sentences.
“He asked if they could make one for his mother and father,” said Graham family spokesman Mark DeMoss. “The caskets are made of pine, plywood and lined with a mattress pad. A wooden cross is nailed to the top of the casket.”
Rev. Graham's casket has been accompanied by a floral arrangement of white lilies in the shape of a cross. DeMoss said the arrangement was chosen by Graham's children because it is the same arrangement Rev. Graham and his wife often sent to others on the occasion of a funeral.
Graham's casket returned to Charlotte Thursday after he lay in honor at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda Wednesday.
