Tracing Our Graff Ancestry

About the Book

At noon on Sunday, March 26, 1933, the only son (the last in a family of seven children) was born to Frank H. Sr. and Myrtle A. Graff. A devout Christian mother would instill in her son at a very early age a love for the Christian Bible.

About the Author

Growing up on their small family farm in rural southern Illinois, Frank Jr. would be one of the last of his generation to have the privilege of receiving his primary education in a one-room country school. After graduating from Murphysboro Township High School, the author enlisted in the United States Navy in 1952 and, after serving both in active duty and the Naval Reserve, received an honorable discharge in 1961. Formal education was completed at Draughon’s College in Paducah, Kentucky, and at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. On April 8, 1967, the author was married to Betty Jean Hemmer. This happy marriage lasted until Betty’s death on March 5, 2009. A long working career was begun with the Sherwin-Williams Company and concluded at Southern Illinois University. The author retired in early 1996 and now resides in a small apartment in Carbondale, Illinois.