WILLIAM D. GRAHAM

LAMAR- A Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, at Thiebaud Auditorium in Lamar, for William “Willie” Dale Graham, 62, Lamar, who died Monday, Sept. 27, 2021. Lunch will be served following the ceremony. A car showing, honoring his love of cars, will be held from 12 noon to 3 p.m., at Thiebaud Auditorium.

Memorial contributions may be made in his name to the Barton County Memorial Park, c/o Joe Davis, 100 Gulf, Lamar, MO 64759, or a local charity of your choice.

Survivors include his daughter, Amber Ming, Corpus Christi, Texas; sons, Brad Graham, Strafford and Chris Crawford and wife Wendy, St. Louis; three grandchildren, Kaylin, Kaysen and Keizer; a brother, Richard Graham, Shell Knob and sisters, Eva Smith, Reading Calif., Sara Ann Graham, Minnesota and Ada Turley, Salida, Colo. He is survived in the home by Edith Todd of Lamar.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a daughter, Melody; brothers, Dan, Preston and Carl Graham and sisters, Glenda Sue Massey, Marlene Bilson, Doris Graham, Rosie Elliot, Jo Mary Schaffer and Janie Benish.

Mr. Graham was born Oct. 23, 1958, in Scott City, Kan., to Jim and Dorothy (Clinton) Graham. He grew up in the neighboring community of Shallow Water, Kan. He spent his life working in the trucking industry, including roles of driving, dispatching and company ownership. The past 21 years, he had been the Northern Regional Sales Manager for Polar Tank Trailers.

He was a car enthusiast that would span his entire life. He loved working on cars; going to races of winged and non-winged cars and hot rod car shows. He was an active organizer of the Lamar Cruise Nights. He had an adventurous spirit, loved life and made everyone laugh. Though he was passionate about community involvement, his relationships with family and friends were his highest priority. He will be dearly missed and always remembered.