Veteran Dedicated His 80’s Helping In-Need-Veterans
Veterans’ Outreach of Florida is saying thanks and farewell to Bob Graham, the Regional Manager for 10 years.
He started his position on his 80th birthday and ended it on his 90th birthday, dedicating his entire Octogenarian years helping veterans. Personally, he is proud to say, that he has helped over 2,800 fellow veterans with financial assistance needs! All the while keeping the overhead to an outstanding 17%! A 30% overhead is considered GREAT for charities. He basically was almost a one-man ARMY…that is the way he liked it…keep the costs down!
He hails from a small village called Pelham Manor, NY. His life has been extraordinary for he has visited 98 countries, lived in 5 countries and 3 continents! He is the youngest of 4 siblings, all have passed and the oldest at 98, just recently!
He studied International Business and traveled for work. His military experience was short lived but intriguing as he was selected for the service of counter intelligence, he was stationed in NY where his commander said “all the bad guys were”. He was a plain clothes man, hardly wore a military uniform and liked that very much. You could say that Bob was part of the origin of Homeland Security.
One of the places that he lived was Hong Kong for 10 years and one of the other homes he made was in London for a spell, which he said was his favorite because the English were so very friendly. The Royals were using some of the products that he represented so he ended up on their guest list for Garden Parties! His wife, June, loved the Garden Parties and according to Bob became quite an expert of hosting grand Garden Parties as well.
He retired twice in his journeys and his children ordered him home. He landed in Sarasota and thought that he would relax until he saw an ad from Veterans’ Outreach. He said that he would give it a go. He turned out to be our best Fund Raiser!
He has also done TV Shows, Speaking Engagements, and Radio to promote the mission of Veterans’ Outreach. The biggest part of his position and what he loved the most was helping every veteran in their dire strait. He was energized by the satisfaction of helping brothers and sisters from the service. Veterans’ Outreach couldn’t be more proud of our warrior, who gave up his 80’s to help fellow vets. Matter of fact, in his own office, he had a heart attack a couple years back. You would think that after he recovered, that he would retire then!
A couple weeks later? He was back helping veterans! Bob will always be a part of the fabric of Veterans’ Outreach and the outstanding services that he provided to hurting veterans.
Bob’s rich baritone voice will still be available for talks at Clubs, Organizations, Media, and other engagements to keep ringing the Bell for Veterans’ Outreach’s Mission!
Bob, it was an honor to work with you, your commitment to the success of Veterans’ Outreach mission was inspirational. Godspeed. . .
