Billy Graham’s casket was hand built by inmates at Angola – What a powerful statement about the godly man that Billy Graham was … That these inmates to hand build his casket.
Billy Graham’s casket was hand built by inmates at Angola
One of the country’s most well-known prisons built by hand a casket for Reverend Billy Graham. It was built by the request of Billy Graham in 2006. This Louisiana State Penitentiary is known as the “Alcatraz of the south.” That means it has the state’s hardest criminals there.
The photo above is what WAFB reports the casket looks like.
One of the special teams members to build Billy Graham’s casket is Clifford Bowman. Bowman is attending Bible college while behind bars.
“We of course prayed before we started and that’s something that does not happen every day when they are doing it in the regular work. Where God is working the devil’s gonna’ be there working, so he’s gonna’ try and get his licks in too,” said Bowman.
A man named Richard Liggett, helped construct the casket with a few modifications. This prison use to bury inmates in cardboard boxes, before they began making caskets for their own.
Warden Burl Cain credits much of the transformation of Angola — from one of the deadliest prisons in the late 20th century to a place of spirituality by the early 2000s — to the Graham family, who donated thousands of dollars to build two chapels on the prison’s property. He said Graham’s children visited the prison multiple times and preached to the inmates.
While touring the correctional facility after preaching there in 2005, Graham’s son Franklin saw caskets being built. Inmates at Angola make caskets for other inmates who cannot afford to purchase one. Moved by this, the younger Graham requested that inmates make caskets for his mother and father.
A chapel at Angola was dedicated in Billy Graham’s honor in 2006.
Details of Billy Graham’s casket include:
- It is made of pine and lined with a mattress pad. A wooden cross is nailed to the top of the casket.
- The Graham family requested no upgrades to the pine casket. Only a few modifications were made to allow the casket to be transported easily.
- Graham’s late wife, Ruth, was buried June 17, 2007, in an identical casket made at Angola.
- Casket rested behind the Pulpit because that is where he was most of his time.
Another Photo of Billy Graham’s Casket
Funeral Info
Graham’s body will be taken from Asheville, N.C., where he lived, to Charlotte on Saturday in a procession expected to take 3 1/2 hours and ending at the Billy Graham Museum and Library.
A private funeral for Graham will be held on Friday, March 2, in a tent at the library site and he will be buried next to his wife there. Invitations to the funeral will be extended to President Donald Trump and former presidents.
Graham will be buried next to his wife Ruth, who died in 2007, at the foot of the cross walkway at the Billy Graham Library. Graham will be buried next to his wife Ruth, who died in 2007, at the foot of the cross walkway at the Billy Graham Library. It is also reported she was buried in a casket also built by Angola inmates.
Sources:
DeMoss Press Release
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