Enlarge Peter A. Harris, AP Rev. Billy Graham and his wife Ruth hold hands on the porch of their home in Montreat, N.C., Aug. 22, 1996 while addressing the media. Ruth Graham handout photo

"She appears to be entering the final stages of life," said Larry Ross, Graham's personal spokesman.

The news came the same day Billy Graham said he and Ruth will be buried at the recently dedicated Billy Graham Library in Charlotte.

In a statement, Graham said his 87-year-old wife, who has degenerative osteoarthritis of the back and neck and has been bedridden at their Montreat home in the mountains of western North Carolina for some time, "is close to going home to heaven."

At the dedication of the library May 31, Graham said she was too weak to get out of bed and that nurses must turn her several times each day.