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MONTREAT, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on the death of the Rev. Billy Graham (all times local):
8 p.m.
The Rev. Billy Graham will lie in repose for two days next week and a funeral will be held on March 2.
Mark DeMoss is a spokesman for the DeMoss Group, a public relations firm handling the arrangements for Graham, who died at his home in Montreat, North Carolina, on Wednesday at age 99.
DeMoss says Graham's body will be taken from Asheville to Charlotte on Saturday starting at 11 a.m. The procession is expected to take 3 ½ hours, ending at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte.
DeMoss says Graham will lie in repose Monday and Tuesday, and a private funeral will be held on Friday, March 2. He says invitations will be extended to President Donald Trump and former presidents.
He says Graham's son Franklin Graham will perform the eulogy.
(This item has been edited to correct that Graham will lie in repose, not in state)
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8:25 a.m.
The Rev. Billy Graham, counselor to presidents and the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history, has died at age 99.
Spokesman Mark DeMoss tell The Associated Press that Graham died Wednesday morning at his home in Montreat, North Carolina.
He had been treated in recent years for cancer, pneumonia and other ailments. His wife, Ruth, died in 2007. Graham reached more than 200 million through his appearances and millions more through his pioneering use of television and radio.
Unlike many traditional evangelists, he abandoned narrow fundamentalism to engage broader society. His message and service to U.S. presidents from Dwight Eisenhower to George W. Bush earned him the nickname "America's Pastor." In 1995 his Evangelistic Association designated his son William Franklin Graham III as the ministry's leader.
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This story has been corrected to ... Edits 8 p.m. item to correct that Graham will lie in repose, not in state.
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