Montreat embraced Graham

Respect for Rev. Billy Graham was perhaps most profound in Montreat, the college town in the North Carolina mountains that he and his family called home for decades.

Graham married Ruth Bell in the chapel of Montreat College in 1943, and they raised their five children in the area. Graham spent most of his time at the family cabin in recent years after retiring.

"We owe a lot to Ruth and Billy Graham," Montreat College President Dan Struble said recently. "He was like the neighbor that everyone wants to have."

A number of world leaders have spoken at the college through the years during visits to Graham's home, Struble said, and the family helped the college financially through the years.

If he could talk to Graham one last time, Struble said, he would thank him for the way he has shaped the world and benefited Montreat.

"You have shaped the world we live in, and you have made it a better place," Struble said. "In in our smaller world – that is, Montreat – you continue to influence the character and the charm that is part of Montreat and what I hope will always be a part of Montreat."

Rev. David Rayburn, pastor of First Baptist Church in the neighboring town of Black Mountain, said Graham is revered in the region.

"What he has allowed God to do through him has been profound and amazing," Rayburn said, adding that he has patterned his preaching after Graham. "The scope of his ministry is broad and different."

Graham even managed to win the respect of religious leaders of other faiths, even if they disagreed with his beliefs.

"We recall Billy Graham as a figure of international renown and someone who clearly gave evidence of wearing his heart on his sleeve in many ways," said Rabbi Rob Cabelli, of Beth Israel Synagogue in Asheville.

"(He was) a man of great sincerity (and) great passion who did what he believed was right," Cabelli said. "I think the world will judge him fairly kindly."