The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Dewain E. Graham

Dewain E. “Bus” Graham, 95, was welcomed into the arms of Jesus and his beloved wife, Ellen, on Wednesday, August 24, 2016. He had been a resident of the Elizabeth Scott Community for the past six months and passed away peacefully with family by his side.

Dewain, also known as “Bus”, was born February 12, 1921, in Mercer County. He was the eighth of nine children born to Grover Cleveland and Ethel (Strete) Graham, who both preceded him in death.

Dewain Graham
Dewain E. ‘Bus’ Graham

He grew up in Rockford, graduating from Rockford High School in 1939. In 1941, he decided to move to Toledo and took a job at Brown Avenue Transportation Company loading trucks. In the spring of 1942, he took a job at Willys Overland as a tool grinder, and received his draft notice in September 1942. Dewain served American Flag for obituaries 6-2011in the United States Army Air Corps from November 1942 to December 1945. In December 1943, he departed on the Queen Mary for service in Europe and was assigned to the 892nd Air Engineer Squadron, 474th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force, as an airplane mechanic, specifically for P-38s. His war service included time in northern France, the Rhineland, the Ardennes, and Central Europe, and he was in Florence, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge. He received the Good Conduct Medal, World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, with four bronze service stars, and was discharged in December 1945 as a staff sergeant.

Ten days after arriving home in Toledo, he married the love of his life, Ellen Jane (Jacobs) Graham, on December 15, 1945. They shared 63½ years together until Ellen’s death in June 2009.

Dewain took a jog at Wayne Lumber Company as a millwright and retired from there in 1986 after 37 years of service. He was also a custom cabinetmaker, and built cabinets and other wood pieces for dozens of homes and businesses in the Toledo area. His work was perfection and many family members and friends and neighbors have pieces of his custom work. He was a proud member of the Carpenters Union.

Dewain and Ellen first lived in a home they built on Richards Road in Toledo before moving to the town of Holland in 1961. Active in his community, Dewain was the oldest member of Holland Post 646 of the American Legion and served as its commander in 1975. He is best known for his attention to detail on the American Legion Department Bowling Tournaments and served on the Bowling Commission for 17 years. He also was a member of Voiture 141, 40 et 8. In the 1970s, he was the fourth president to lead the Community Homecoming Corporation (which runs the Strawberry Festival), and was part of a group of Holland citizens who were able to secure the purchase of the property for the Community Homecoming Park, where the Strawberry Festival is now held. In 2008, he was honored as the grand marshal of the Strawberry Festival Parade. He was a member of the Spring Valley Saddle Club, as well as a board member of the Hollandettes Baton and Drum Corps, and drove their buses, as well as keeping them maintained.

He also used the Strutters’ bus as a “pep bus” to transport Springfield High School students to out-of-town football games, charging a quarter to ride. He was very popular with the students and never complained of the noisy bus rides to and from the games.

Dewain was preceded in death by his parents and eight siblings, Eugene Graham, Mary Gecowets, Katherine Egger, Virginia Zizelman, Marjorie Carver, and James Graham. A brother, John, and a sister, Lena, died in infancy. He also was preceded in death by several nieces and nephews, all of his in-laws, and a great-grandson, Jamez Alexzander Vanderhorst-Bryan.

He is survived by four beloved daughters, Evelyn (Joe) Navarre, Mary Ellen Graham, Ruth (James) Vanderhorst, and Linda (Don Meadows) Graham; loving granddaughters, April (Derek) Lick, Theresa (David) Kehrer, Rosemary (Wayne) King, Joyce Meyer, and Laura Vanderhorst; and precious great-grandchildren, Joel Schoppman, Gabrielle, Adam, and Zachary Lick, Matthew and Samuel Kehrer, David, MaryEllen, Kathleen, Timothy, Gwenievere, and Cayden King, James, Joshua, and Jacob Meyer, Christopher Schofield, and Kai and Elia Vanderhorst-Bryan, and numerous nieces and nephews who loved their “Uncle Bus.”

Dewain was very proud of his World War II service, and 20 years ago he began to write down the details, which ultimately became a softcover book that two daughters, Mary and Linda, helped edit and put together. While it was never formally published, his account of his World War II service is a great treasure to those who have a copy.

Dewain will be remember for his friendly manner and his attention to details, often reminding us not to do the job unless you could do it right. He was a prankster, just like his wife, and there are countless funny stories of his escapades.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, August 31, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Maumee. Burial will be in Highland Memory Gardens in Waterville.

Visitation for Dewain is from 2-9 p.m. Tuesday, August 30, at Neville Funeral Home-Southwest Chapel in Holland, where a scripture service will be held at 7 p.m. and a memorial service Holland American Legion Post 646 at 7:15 that evening, immediately followed by a Voiture 141, 40 et 8, service.

We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of the caring staff of Building 4 at the Elizabeth Scott Community, as well as the caring people of Hospice of Northwest Ohio. Your kindness and compassion are greatly appreciated by us, and our dad was appreciative of all your care and concern. We also want to thank our countless family and friends who were there for us in prayer and just to lend an ear. God bless all of you.

Donations in Dewain’s memory may be made to Hospice of Northwest Ohio, St. Joseph Catholic Church in Maumee, or a charity of the donor’s choice.

Condolences may be expressed at www.neville-funeral.com.

Together again, Mom & Dad;

Gone, yet not forgotten,

Although we are apart,

Your spirits live within us,

Forever, in our hearts.

Your girls: Evelyn, Mary, Ruth, and Linda

POSTED: 08/27/16 at 7:35 pm. FILED UNDER: Obituaries