In Memoriam
Lawrence Graham '53
Lawrence (Larry) Graham was born in Brooklyn, New York and with his parents and sister in 1950, moved to Dolton, Illinois to enter the Thornton Township High School class of 1953. This was followed by two years at Thornton Township Junior College and graduation in 1957 from the business school of the University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois. Schooling was paid for by working after school in the Harvey A&P and college summers on the assembly line in the Chicago Ford assembly plant.
After graduation, Larry began a business and sales career at UARCO in Chicago. In 1958 he married Barbara Gold of Gary, Indiana. Within a year after he and Barbara were married, Larry chose to successfully apply to the U.S. Coast Guard Officer Candidate School, New London, CT. to fulfill his military service. With no initial plan to do so, this choice would last 27 years and retirement with the rank of Captain.
The Coast Guard career afforded a significant number of interesting and challenging experiences that included ship command, CFO experience for Hawaii and Asia, numerous duty stations in the U.S. including Alaska and a year of duty in the Philippines. For the most part, these assignments were made with the direction to improve operations and administration, but without additional funding or personnel. The end result was consistent, positive change and reward of seeing young men and women meet the challenges that positively impacted their achievements and personal development.
After graduation, Larry began a business and sales career at UARCO in Chicago. In 1958 he married Barbara Gold of Gary, Indiana. Within a year after he and Barbara were married, Larry chose to successfully apply to the U.S. Coast Guard Officer Candidate School, New London, CT. to fulfill his military service. With no initial plan to do so, this choice would last 27 years and retirement with the rank of Captain.
The Coast Guard career afforded a significant number of interesting and challenging experiences that included ship command, CFO experience for Hawaii and Asia, numerous duty stations in the U.S. including Alaska and a year of duty in the Philippines. For the most part, these assignments were made with the direction to improve operations and administration, but without additional funding or personnel. The end result was consistent, positive change and reward of seeing young men and women meet the challenges that positively impacted their achievements and personal development.
During his Coast Guard career, Larry was one of two Coast Guard officers assigned to George Washington University, Washington, D.C. for one year of study for a Masters in Business Administration. He was also selected as the Coast Guard officer to attend the Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for one year of U.S. Domestic and International Policy studies. Upon retirement from the Coast Guard, Larry was Director, Embarcadero Center (Rockefeller Center West), Senior Vice President, Union Bank of California and Vice President, Visa Inc. where he managed the procurement if IT hardware and software. In each of these positions, Larry took great pride in developing and enabling his staffs to achieve high levels of performance and satisfaction while creating significant value for each corporation. Larry left Visa in 2004 to successfully start an IT consulting firm from which he retired in 2010.
With numerous awards and tokens of appreciation, Larry takes great pride in the realtionships developed since college and most of all is grateful for his marriage to Barbara and the growth and development of his children and grandchildren.
Larry and Barbara have been married for 61 years and have three children and six grandchildren.
With numerous awards and tokens of appreciation, Larry takes great pride in the realtionships developed since college and most of all is grateful for his marriage to Barbara and the growth and development of his children and grandchildren.
Larry and Barbara have been married for 61 years and have three children and six grandchildren.
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