Eugene Ernest Graf, 87

He had a heck of a run and lived every day to the fullest. Gene passed away at the age of 87 in Waynesville, N.C., on Dec. 28, 2008, where he and his wife Janice had recently celebrated their sixth anniversary.

Gene Graf was born in Union City, N.J., on Dec. 16, 1921, to Albert and Anna Graf, Swiss immigrants, who owned an embroidery business. He grew up fishing, skating and playing baseball and graduated from high school in North Bergen, N.J., in 1939.

After high school, he worked days and studied engineering at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, until World War II, when he enlisted in the Navy. Gene spent most of the next four years of his enlistment in the South Pacific as an aviation machinist mate.

After his discharge, he married Barbara Pettit and returned to college by day and worked at his father's embroidery business by night. The business was sold after his father's death in 1948, so Gene tried his hand working on several farms in New Jersey and eventually started his own landscape and nursery business.

By 1959, Gene and Barbara had four boys and they purchased a soft ice-cream stand and renamed it Graf's Dairy Maid. Over the next 15 years, they finally had a baby girl, worked hard at the ice cream business, built a house and raised the family. In 1974, the successful business was sold and they moved to Montana, eventually building a home on the KM Road between Kalispell and Whitefish.

Gene enjoyed semi-retirement and dabbled with camping, hiking, hunting, fishing and skiing, but really enjoyed working his garden, taking the surplus produce to the farmers market in Kalispell.

In their spare time, Gene and Barbara volunteered with the Red Cross by helping with the weekly blood drives, doing office work and teaching first aid and canoeing. Bicycling became a big part of their life and in 1984, they spent five months cycling throughout Europe, covering over 5,000 miles. After that trip they became avid sailors on Flathead Lake, but because the season was too short in Montana, they moved to North Carolina where the waters could be sailed year round.

After many sailing adventures, Barbara passed away in 1994 and Gene returned to Kalispell. He spent the next few years volunteering at West Valley School, taking classes at Flathead Valley Community College, and traveling to Italy, Antarctica, Alaska and Vietnam.

He met and courted Janice Moxely from Raleigh, N.C., and they were married in 2002. Together, Gene and Janice continued to travel and take classes in Raleigh and at FVCC. They attended the Glacier Unitarian Universalist Fellowship while living in Kalispell during the summer, and they lived in Raleigh during the winter.

Gene was especially proud of and is survived by all of his children, Peter Graf of Missoula, Robert Graf of Danbury, N.H., Dick Graf of Whitefish, Curt Graf of Park City, Utah, and Andrea Graf of Cincinnati. He is also survived by his wife, Janice; 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. on Jan. 13 at the Glacier Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall at 1515 Trumble Creek Road, Kalispell.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Barbara Graf Scholarship fund at Flathead Valley Community College.