John Graham ’39

Chico died March 8, 2011, two months after celebrating his 95th birthday at his ranch in Bandera, Texas.  

His first job after college and a year’s trip around the world was with American Airlines. He served in the Army from 1941 to 1946. His last tour of duty was in Yokohama, Japan, where he was a captain in the military government.

Chico returned to work for American Airlines, first in Newark and then in Dallas. In 1962, he became vice president of sales for Village Kitchen Foods in Dallas. He previously held a similar job at Ranch Foods Inc. and worked in the food industry for 22 years.

He was active in Scouting and in the Presbyterian Church all his life. Chico and his wife, Jane, helped start the Pipe Creek Presbyterian Church in Bandera County, Texas, where he was its first clerk of session.

In 1989, Chico wrote this for our 50th reunion: “Princeton gave me knowledge — but more importantly, it taught me to think and reason in every phase of life.”

Chico is survived by Jane, his wife of 67 years; two children, Sally Peterson and John Jr.; five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews, including John Steen ’71. To them all, the class extends its sympathy.