AncientFaces Your browser does not support JavaScript!
Please enable JavaScript to view the entire contents of this page.

Add photo

Ralf O Graham 1924 - 2002

Ralf O Graham of Wichita, Sedgwick County, KS was born on July 1, 1924, and died at age 77 years old on March 9, 2002.

Ralf O Graham

Wichita, Sedgwick County, KS 67209

July 1, 1924

March 9, 2002

Male

Looking for someone else

Ralf O Graham Ralf Graham (1924 - 2002)

ADVERTISEMENT BY ANCESTRY.COM

This page exists for YOU
and everyone who remembers Ralf.

Share what you know,
even ask what you wish you knew.

Invite others to do the same,
but don't worry if you can't...

Someone, somewhere will find this page,
and we'll notify you when they do.

Ralf O Graham's History: 1924 - 2002

Uncover new discoveries and connections today by sharing about people & moments from yesterday.

- Discover how AncientFaces works.

07/1

1924

Birthday

July 1, 1924

Birthdate

Unknown

Birthplace

ADVERTISEMENT BY
03/9

2002

Death

March 9, 2002

Death date

Unknown
Cause of death

Unknown
Death location

ADVERTISEMENT BY
Obituary

Graham, Ralf O., 77, retired Kansas Cooperative Extension Information Specialist for Kansas State University, died Saturday, March 9, 2002. Service 11 a.m. Saturday, West Heights United Methodist Church. Born on a farm near Spickard, Mo. on July 1, 1924, Mr. Graham was the son of O.O. and Goldie (Herrin) Graham. Mr. Graham received much of his early education in rural one-room schoolhouses, graduating from Trenton High School in Trenton, Mo. in 1942. His growing interests in journalism and history led him to a 1948 degree from Peru State Teachers’ College in Peru, Neb. There he met and later married Aileen Wheeldon. From 1948 to1954, Mr. Graham taught journalism, social studies and history—which he described as “one great adventure story”—at Auburn High School in Auburn, Neb. Summers were spent in Minneapolis, Minn., earning a Masters of Journalism/Administration degree from the University of Minnesota. He also earned graduate credits at the University of Iowa. From 1954 to1956, he taught journalism and directed publicity for both the high school and junior college in Fairbury, Neb. During these early years several of his student publications--newspapers and yearbooks for Auburn and Fairbury high schools--received All-American recognition in national competition. The Fairbury High School newspaper was the “Nebraska Student Publication of the Year” in 1956. In 1957, Mr. Graham went to Midland College, in Fremont, Neb., as publicity director and journalism teacher. In 1959, the move was to South High School, in Wichita, Kan., as the first journalism teacher in the newly built school. Mr. Graham’s second career, as a professional communicator, started in 1961, with his appointment to the Extension Communications Department at Kansas State University, in Manhattan, Kan. In time he reached full professor rank, and spent 30 years serving in several professional writing and editing capacities—news writer and photographer, publications editor, audio-visual producer, associate state Extension Editor, and special projects editor, instructional media coordinator, to name a few. Upon Mr. Graham’s retirement, colleague Kathleen Ward wrote, “Ralf Graham probably is as close as Kansas Extension comes to having a true Renaissance man. He cares so much about uncompromised quality, about beauty, about being willing to take artistic risks and make an extraordinary personal investment to achieve that certain ‘flair.’ “Ralf was the person who instituted ‘hometown’ state fair news coverage...seasonal news packets...and news support for K-State’s Experiment Stations. He was a founding member and long-time officer of our Kansas-USDA committee on rural development, and wrote the base PRIDE publication. He also outlined CRD’s leader development approach, still used today. “He produced educational aids that won many national awards and even made their way to a White House Conference on Families. When drugs became a concern and misinformation was rife, Ralf developed a state-of-the-art presentation called ‘The Drug Dilemma’ that broke attendance records statewide--years before the problem was addressed by any other agency on either a state or a national level. “Ralf was the foundation of the advisors’ notebook and state training for 4-H Ambassadors. Concurrent with all this, Ralf has been a guiding force for Kansas Epsilon Sigma Pi and Alpha Rho. He has provided not only meritorious but also unusually distinguished service to Extension’s fraternity of professionals in Kansas and far beyond.” Mr. Graham enjoyed building more than his career. An avid do-it-yourselfer and amateur architect, he always had a remodeling or redecorating project in the works. His talents as a writer and historian spilled over into his personal life as well, as he researched and wrote his family’s genealogical history, contributed his skills to church publications, and created photographic and written chronicles of his family’s life with a journalist’s talent for storytelling. After retirement in 1990, Mr. Graham and his wife moved back to Wichita, Kan., to be near daughter and son-in-law Ellen and Dennis Moore and their growing family. Younger daughter Dawn took up her father’s trade and works as an advertising writer in suburban Chicago. Mr. Graham was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers. Survivors: wife of 53 years, Aileen; daughters and sons-in-law Ellen and Dennis Moore of Wichita, and Dawn Graham and John Newcomer of Arlington Heights, Ill; and grandchildren Matthew, Alosha and Masha Moore of Wichita. Memorial established with West Heights United Methodist Church, 745 N. Westlink, Wichita, KS, 67212.

ADVERTISEMENT BY
Looking for more information?
Advertisement
Did you know?

Ralf O Graham lived 5 years longer than the average family member when died at the age of 77.

ADVERTISEMENT BY
Looking for more information?
share

Memories

below

Be the 1st
to remember Ralf

Select options below to share special moments.

Introduction Ethnicity & Family History Nationality & Locations Early Life & Education Baptism Religious Beliefs Military Service Professional Career Personal Life & Family Gravesite & Burial

Share what you remember.
Ask what you wish to know.
Connect to discover more.
Advertisement
Did you know?

Ralf O Graham lived 5 years longer than the average family member when died at the age of 77.

ADVERTISEMENT BY
Looking for more information?
share

Memories

below

Add Memories, Stories & Photos about Ralf

- See how biographies work.

Be the 1st to share and we'll let you know when others do the same.

Did you know?

In 1924, in the year that Ralf O Graham was born, J. Edgar Hoover, at the age of 29, was appointed the sixth director of the Bureau of Investigation by Calvin Coolidge (which later became the Federal Bureau of Investigation). The Bureau had approximately 650 employees, including 441 Special Agents. A former employee of the Justice Department, Hoover accepted his new position on the proviso that the bureau was to be completely divorced from politics and that the director report only to the attorney general.

Did you know?

In 1935, he was merely 11 years old when the BOI's name (the Bureau of Investigation) was changed to the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and it officially became a separate agency with the Department of Justice. J. Edgar Hoover, the Chief of the BOI, continued in his office and became the first Director of the FBI. The FBI's responsibility is to "detect and prosecute crimes against the United States".

ADVERTISEMENT BY ANCESTRY.COM

Ralf Graham's Family Tree & Friends

Ralf Graham's Family Tree

Parent

Ralf O Graham Jul 1, 1924 - Mar 9, 2002

Partner

Child

Sibling

Friendships

Ralf's Friends

1 Follower & Sources

ADVERTISEMENT BY ANCESTRY.COM

Other Biographies

Other Graham Family Biographies

Graham, Margaret (Born Nov 10, 1913) Graham, Robert (Aug 20, 1818 - Feb 10, 1890) Graham, Clement (Born Sep 1866) Graham, Maybelle (Born 1910) Graham, P.j. (Born Nov 19, 1948) Graham, Dearl (Born Apr 29, 1934) Graham, Virginia (Born Feb 22, 1956) Graham, Darren (Born Oct 27, 1959) Graham, Leona (Born Aug 8, 1939) Graham, Kevin (Born Feb 23, 1966)

Graham, Ashley (Born Sep 9, 1986) Graham, Aaron (Born Sep 28, 1992) Graham, Elizabeth (Born Aug 7, 1990) Graham, Minnie (Born Mar 8, 1914) Graham, James (Born 1858) Graham, Barbie (Born Aug 23, 1949) Graham, Tim (Born Mar 8, 1980) Graham, Joe (Born Jul 5, 1900) Graham, Rachel (1767 - 1851) Graham-Toler, Lucy (Apr 6, 1876 - 1966)

About the AncientFaces Community

Ralf O Graham 1924 - 2002

Ralf O Graham's History: 1924 - 2002

Birthday

Death

Obituary

Add Memories, Stories & Photos about Ralf

Ralf Graham's Family Tree & Friends

Ralf Graham's Family Tree

Ralf's Friends

Other Graham Family Biographies