Submitted by
Louise Willison

Owen Gale Graham

McALLEN, Texas — Longtime valley resident, Owen Gale Graham, passed away Monday, Jan. 29, 2007, after a 32-year battle with heart disease. Like most of his generation, Owen was a child of the Great Depression.

He was born Aug. 9, 1924 in Colorado Springs, Colo., the seventh son and the ninth child of John Fulton Graham and Nora Ethel Tipton Graham of Kay County.

Both his grandfathers ran successfully in the Cherokee Strip Land Rush of 1893. Owen grew up on a ranch near their original claims where, from the age of 13, he learned to break horses, raise livestock, and operate the tractors and farm equipment of that day.

After Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served as a coxwain operating landing craft at such Pacific battles as Tarawa, Leyte Gulf and Okinawa.

After the war, he married Helen Lucille Webb and went to work in the oil fields near Monahans, Texas. He later worked for Phillips Petroleum Company at their plants near Shidler and Freer, Texas. He retired as plant manager of the Coastal States Gas Plant in McAllen.

After his retirement, he stayed active by teaching himself photography, computer repair, bee keeping and gardening. He also wrote a book on the Graham/Tipton family history. He was active in a McAllen photography club and a member of VFW.

Owen is survived by his loving wife, Helen; his daughter, Patricia Gale Graham of Wimberley, Texas; and his son, Jerry Alan Graham of Colorado Springs, Colo.. He is also survived by his brothers, Israel, John and Billy, and his sister, Gladys, as well as 11 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

Visitation was 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, at Kreidler Funeral Home in McAllen, Texas, with a rosary at 7 p.m. that evening. The funeral was held at 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in McAllen. Burial will be 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 5, at Newkirk Cemetery in Newkirk.

The family wishes to express their profound gratitude to the exceptional doctors and nurses at the Renaissance Rehab Center and Doctor's Hospital of McAllen for the loving care they provided Owen in his last days.

Owen was loved by everyone who knew him. He will be remembered not only for his love and dedication to his family and friends, but also for the genuineness of his smile and his gentle sense of humor. He signed all his e-mails as "Owen Graham, part owner of Texas." (He owned a house in McAllen.)