Evangelist the Rev. Billy Graham has died at his home in North Carolina at age 99.

William Franklin Graham, Jr. was born Nov. 7, 1918 in the downstairs' bedroom of a farmhouse in Charlotte, NC.

He was the eldest of four children. His parents, Frank and Morrow Graham, were Christians and the family regularly attended Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Billy Frank, as he was called, later confessed he hated going to church as a child, but knew it wasn't an option. He learned the value of hard work on the family's dairy farm.

"I remember I use to milk the cows in the barn," Graham recalled.

His boyhood hero was Babe Ruth and he dreamed of playing first base for the Philadelphia Athletics. But, at just 16 years old, Graham committed his life to Jesus Christ after attending a revival lead by Evangelist Mordecai Ham.

"Ever since I received Christ as my savior in 1934 in Charlotte, I never had a doubt about my faith in God," said Graham.

TAMPA BAY AREA TIES

Graham has lots of ties to the Bay area. He went to college in Pinellas County, and there is a statue in his honor in Tampa.

At Southeastern University, professors Alan Snyder and Robert Crosby are writing a book that is largely about Graham's relationships with presidents.

The book will be called "Presidents and Profits."

"The thing about Graham, it isn't just 'I'm friends with you because you're the president,'" Snyder told Spectrum News reporter Rick Elmhorst. "I'm friends with you because you are a person.'"

No matter the political party, Graham was there. He was also close to and supported Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"It was really interesting to look into the relationship because it wasn't really publicized a lot. But the two of them definitely had a relationship," Crosbey said

Graham graduated from Sharron High School in 1936. He studied at a Florida Bible Institute near Tampa where he surrendered to the calls to preach.

"Well, I got on my knees right there and I said 'Lord, I'll go where You want me to go and I'll be what You want me to be," Graham recalled.


A park and marker in Tampa remember the Rev. Billy Graham

EVERY PART OF THE WORLD

It was the beginning of an incredible adventure that would bring him to every part of the world.

In 1940, as America was heading for a world war, Graham enrolled at Wheaton College near Chicago.

That is where he met his future bride Ruth Bell, the daughter of a Presbyterian missionary, who spent much of her life in China. After their graduation in 1943, the two were married in Montreat, NC, where Ruth's parents had settled. The newlyweds returned to Chicago where Graham was pastor of a little Baptist church.

A year later, at the age of 26, he accepted an offer to preach on the radio.

"And I believe the American people have been going further in sin," he had said.

That radio broadcast lead to an offer from a new international evangelistic movement called "The Youth for Christ."

During the post-war era, Graham preached throughout the United States and Europe, but it was the Los Angeles mission in 1949 that launched Graham into international prominence. The crusade was schedule for three weeks, but as news spread about the way Graham's message was changing lives, it was extended for another five weeks.

Over the decades that followed, Graham preached to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history, an estimated 210 million people in 185 countries and territories.

He ministered to presidents and heads of states, as well as, people of all ages, races and walks of life. Wherever his ministry took him his message stayed the same.

"You think Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sin. The bible says God's judgment is eternal," Graham once said to his people. "I'm going to ask you to come and say yes to Christ."

He was a Christian statesman and played a major role in influencing the growth of Christianity in human rights around the world.

In the 1950's, Graham took a stand for Civil Rights. He insisted the ropes that separated blacks and whites be torn down during his crusades.

He began delivering his message "Behind the Iron Curtain” in the late sixties. And whenever this nation needed direction at time of tragedy, Graham was called upon to speak.

In 2005, more than 200,000 people came to Graham's final crusade in New York City, all the while, delivering the same message.

Despite all of his accomplishments, Graham remained a humble man.

"I'm not that good; I'm not a great preacher; I’m just an ordinary, proclaimer of the gospel," he once said.

On May 31, 2007, in front of 1,500 family and friends, and three former presidents, the Billy Graham Library was dedicated in West Charlotte.

"And so we are gathered here today because Billy Graham, the man, the preacher, the humble farmer's son, who helped change the world is a spiritual gift to all of us," said George H. Bush. "He's gone from the silo to chasing the halo and I say he just about got it." Mike Easley

Leaving a legacy for the millions of people he inspired and a missionary so his mission will continue.

Just a few weeks later Graham would need those prayers as he dealt with the loss of his wife, Ruth Bell Graham,

"She was an incredible woman. We were married for nearly 64 years. And I wish you could look in that casket because she's so beautiful. I sat there a long time last night just looking at her and praying because I knew she had a great reception in heaven," he remembered,