I'm sorry to see Ted go. I had known him since 5th grade and we had a friendly competition in classes we took together, especially Math. We enjoyed each other's company and it was nice to see him at the 2021 reunion. In 5th grade, Ted asked me to stay overnight at his house for his birthday. His Dad gave us $5 so we could walk to King's on South Street and eat dinner. We couldn't spend it all and we couldn't eat it all, even though we were growing boys and we went through hamburgers, cheese frenchies, a family order of fries and rings and milkshakes. We laughed about it again 57 years later at the reunion. Rest in peace old buddy.
Ted has always been his own person. Even as a young kid. We walked together our first day of kindergarten and every day as we attended Bryan school, Holmes and Lefler. He never really liked sports but he was always up for doing things. He was the only person I knew who had a swimming pool and we spent hours in it. He never really seem to care what other people thought of him. Which was pretty unusual for any kid our age. They say he was the smartest kid in school but he never let you know it. One of my favorite memories was when Ted excitedly called me up on the phone told me to hurry over because he had just purchased the new Sgt. Pepper album just released that day. We listened to it on a little portable record player on his porch over and over and over again. He loved all kinds of music but especially Bob Dylan, probably because he was an iconoclast just like Ted. After the Reunion last year a bunch of us walked down to Barrymores and Ted and I reminisced as we walked. He remembered great sandwiches my mom made and I remembered how kind and funny his mom Nan was. I thought of the miles that the two of us had spent walking to various schools and girls houses. After we'd been drinking a couple hours we all parted ways and I watched as Ted walked, silhouetted in the light, up 13th St. I looked at him and thought, we are all fortunate to have known an individual who had the drive and character to put all of his life belongings on a mule and walk him to Montana.
The following article appeared in the Sept. 18, 1970 edition of the LSE Clarion, which says a lot about Ted:
LSE Clarion, SEP 18, 1970, Page 8
Dresselhous, Fisher, Fox, Graf Compete for Scholarship
Four seniors have been named semi-finalists in the 1970-71 National Merit Scholarship program. The are Julie Dresselhaus, Adrienne Fisher, John Fox and Burket (Ted) Graf. These students are among the top one percent of the 1971 graduating class. They are among 14,750 semi-finalist competing for 3,000 Merit Scholarships to be awarded in 1971.
These semi-finalists now have to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test on November 7 and score above 600 on both the math and verbal sections in order to be a finalist.
Finalists are then considered for 1,000 National Merit $1,000 Scholarships and for the four year merit scholarships offered by some 500 sources. Winners of these may receive up to $1,500 each year during four years of college.
What an incredible life. It reads like pages out of The Definitive Journals of Lewis & Clark. An intrepid individualist, which is an endangered species.
George Howard
I'm sorry to see Ted go. I had known him since 5th grade and we had a friendly competition in classes we took together, especially Math. We enjoyed each other's company and it was nice to see him at the 2021 reunion. In 5th grade, Ted asked me to stay overnight at his house for his birthday. His Dad gave us $5 so we could walk to King's on South Street and eat dinner. We couldn't spend it all and we couldn't eat it all, even though we were growing boys and we went through hamburgers, cheese frenchies, a family order of fries and rings and milkshakes. We laughed about it again 57 years later at the reunion. Rest in peace old buddy.
George Howard
Jay Wagener
Ted has always been his own person. Even as a young kid. We walked together our first day of kindergarten and every day as we attended Bryan school, Holmes and Lefler. He never really liked sports but he was always up for doing things. He was the only person I knew who had a swimming pool and we spent hours in it. He never really seem to care what other people thought of him. Which was pretty unusual for any kid our age. They say he was the smartest kid in school but he never let you know it. One of my favorite memories was when Ted excitedly called me up on the phone told me to hurry over because he had just purchased the new Sgt. Pepper album just released that day. We listened to it on a little portable record player on his porch over and over and over again. He loved all kinds of music but especially Bob Dylan, probably because he was an iconoclast just like Ted. After the Reunion last year a bunch of us walked down to Barrymores and Ted and I reminisced as we walked. He remembered great sandwiches my mom made and I remembered how kind and funny his mom Nan was. I thought of the miles that the two of us had spent walking to various schools and girls houses. After we'd been drinking a couple hours we all parted ways and I watched as Ted walked, silhouetted in the light, up 13th St. I looked at him and thought, we are all fortunate to have known an individual who had the drive and character to put all of his life belongings on a mule and walk him to Montana.
Jay Wagener
Lana Miller
What a wonderful memory/tribute, Jay. RIP Ted.Tim Wentz
The following article appeared in the Sept. 18, 1970 edition of the LSE Clarion, which says a lot about Ted:
LSE Clarion, SEP 18, 1970, Page 8
Dresselhous, Fisher, Fox, Graf Compete for Scholarship
Four seniors have been named semi-finalists in the 1970-71 National Merit Scholarship program. The are Julie Dresselhaus, Adrienne Fisher, John Fox and Burket (Ted) Graf. These students are among the top one percent of the 1971 graduating class. They are among 14,750 semi-finalist competing for 3,000 Merit Scholarships to be awarded in 1971.
These semi-finalists now have to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test on November 7 and score above 600 on both the math and verbal sections in order to be a finalist.
Finalists are then considered for 1,000 National Merit $1,000 Scholarships and for the four year merit scholarships offered by some 500 sources. Winners of these may receive up to $1,500 each year during four years of college.
Winners will be announced next spring.
John Van Gundy
What an incredible life. It reads like pages out of The Definitive Journals of Lewis & Clark. An intrepid individualist, which is an endangered species.