Reverend Franklin Graham and his entire family are still reeling from the lost of Dr. Danny Lotz, the husband of his elder sister Anne.

Writing on his Facebook page, Graham recalled the great example Lotz set not just on the lives of his family members but on everybody else's he had encountered.

"I know that my sister Anne and all the family would appreciate your prayers in the loss of her husband, Dr. Danny Lotz. Danny was a great man of God—every inch a Christian gentleman—who influenced countless people for the Gospel over the years. And he was a great brother-in-law!" Graham said.

Lotz was 15 years older than Graham, and the American evangelist has always looked up to him and admired him. Graham said he is looking forward to being reunited with his Christian brother-in-law in heaven one day.

"Danny will be missed greatly, but what a comfort it is to know that we will see him again in heaven one day," said Graham. He quoted Philippians 3:20-21: "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

Danny and Anne were married for 49 years. At the age of 50, Danny developed a severe case of Adult 1 diabetes, and he suffered from the lost of sight in one eye and hearing in one ear. His heart disease required five stents in his arteries, while his renal failure dictated three days of dialysis each week, five hours each time. Despite all of his physical hardships, Lotz never complained and never stopped preaching the Word of God. This was the basis for his nickname "God's gladiator."

"As a New Yorker he was plain-spoken. As a German he was stubborn. As a Christian he was a compassionate servant leader. He was more than a man's man. He was God's man who triumphantly finished his race having fought the good fight, and having kept his faith firmly focused on the kingdom of God first," Anne wrote on her Facebook page.