Jean Graham, the sister of the late Billy Graham, had a light-hearted joke in her pocket at her brother’s funeral this week.
To start, she told the audience in attendance, “You are here because you love him. But you don’t love him like I do. And you haven’t loved him as long as I have.”
Then she recalled, “When the president saw me today, he said, ‘My goodness, your family has good genes.’”
Then she turns to Trump, who is in the audience, saying, “Well, you didn’t know that my name is Jean.”
The audience erupted in laughter.
She then finished her amazingly beautiful eulogy, saying, “My other brother and sister have gone on, and I was reminded when I heard that my brother died of the song that the choirs used to sing, ‘Heaven Came Down and Filled my Soul with Glory.’”
As reported by Washington Post:
About 2,000 people filled a huge white tent on Friday for a private funeral outside the red barnlike Billy Graham Library to honor the iconic evangelist who preached to millions across the globe.
Graham, who died Feb. 21 at age 99, was honored this week in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Graham served during the second half of the 20th century as the key leader of evangelicalism, which has become the largest religious persuasion in the United States today. A lifelong registered Democrat, he was a friend and counselor to several presidents.
President Trump and Vice President Pence attended the funeral, although Trump did not speak. Graham met the president at a 95th birthday party for the spiritual leader organized by his son Franklin Graham, who has led the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in recent years.
During Friday’s service, Franklin Graham noted Trump and Pence’s presence, but he did not touch on politics in his keynote address. Instead, he channeled the gospel message that his father preached for so many years, that people have sinned and need to repent and turn to Jesus as their savior.