Harold Wilson Graves Jr. or Wilson, as he was known, age 70, passed away last weekend at his home after a long illness. He was born Dec. 15, 1947, in Clinton to Harold (Shorty) and Permelia (Moody) Graves.

Wilson attended El Dorado Spring Schools, and could always be found at the local baseball field when not attending to school or work, which he always took very seriously, graduating in 1965. He then went on to study at SMS in Springfield,  graduating in 1969 with a degree in English, and later in the 1980’s, pursued and attained both a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Central Michigan and an MBA from UMKC.

His commitment to the U.S. Army following college took him to several locations throughout the country. He fondly remembered his time in Dundalk, MD. Eventually his service took him to Vietnam, where he worked intelligence, wrote reports, ate steaks and drank beer with his buddies in the officers’ mess hall.

He returned to the U.S. in late 1971 to attend to family affairs, and while there, resigned his commission and, in February of the following year, married Regina Mitchell of Springfield.

They soon thereafter moved to the Kansas City area to start a family. In November of 1972, a son, Brennan, was born to them. Wilson legally adopted Britton, Regina’s daughter from a previous relationship, in 1974.

Wilson worked in the healthcare administration field for most of his career, including Baptist Memorial Hospital and The University of Kansas Hospital’s Internal Medicine Foundation. The family eventually moved to south Kansas City, in the Waldo area, where they lived for a few years before settling a short distance away in the Red Bridge area in 1978, where the family stayed for many years thereafter.

Wilson was a hard worker, both at his profession and his hobbies, and was always committed to seeing things through to his standards. In his retirement, he tended to his house, yard and flowers with great pride, and accumulated an impressive assortment of clocks, which he delighted in winding up and syncing to chime in an exacting order. This was much to the annoyance of his son for they would chime in the middle of one of their many lengthy discussions on various topics, which he greatly enjoyed.

Wilson is survived by his son, Brennan, and wife, Nicole, as well as his only grandson, Hayden, of De Soto, KS; his daughter, Britton Highland, of Lehigh Acres, FL; his mother, Permelia (Moody), of El Dorado Springs; one brother, Michael, and his wife, Lorena, of El Dorado Springs; his sister, Cheryl, and her husband, Jerry Carpenter, of El Dorado Springs; his former wife, Regina, of Kansas City; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorial services were held on Friday, Sept. 7, in Bland-Hackleman Chapel. Final disposition was cremation under the direction of Bland-Hackleman Funeral Home.

Online condolences may be left at: www.blandhackleman.com.

Facebook Comments