Tracey DeBruhl, of Asheville, N.C., views a memorial display in tribute to the Rev. Billy Graham inside the chapel at the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018, in Asheville. DeBruhl came to pay his respects since he had attended several of Graham's revivals and was inspired by his teachings. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)
The Associated Press
MONTREAT, N.C. (AP) - While the Rev. Billy Graham's travels took him as far away as the Soviet Union and China, he always came back to his native North Carolina, a place of refuge and spiritual refueling.
In the process, the most famous evangelist in American history became one of North Carolina's favorite sons.
The highway running past the world headquarters of his evangelical empire in Charlotte is called Billy Graham Parkway. The chapel in the mountain town of Montreat where he was married in 1943 is named in his honor. And a 2011 poll found him to be the most revered person in the state, beating out TV star Andy Griffith and basketball coach Dean Smith.
Graham died Wednesday at age 99.
Franklin Graham says his father always thought of himself as simply a farm boy from North Carolina.
Jeremiah Chapman of Hillsborough, N.C., sits in a pew inside the chapel at the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove to view a memorial display in honor of Graham on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018 in Asheville, NC. Graham, the world's best-known evangelist, died at his home in Montreat, N.C. on Wednesday, his organization said. He was 99. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)
The Associated Press
Flowers and notes are left outside Chatlos Chapel in tribute to Rev. Billy Graham at the Billy Graham Training Center, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 in Asheville, NC. Grahamâs body will lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda next week, the first time a private citizen has been accorded such recognition since civil rights hero Rosa Parks in 2005. The two-day viewing in Washington on Feb. 28 and March 1 will be part of nine days of mourning for postwar Americaâs most famous evangelist, who died Wednesday at his home in North Carolinaâs mountains at age 99. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)
The Associated Press