In the Riverdale neighborhood where Brew Graham lived, he was like E. F. Hutton: When he talked, people listened.
“He was almost 100 years old,” said George Willis, a long-time family friend. “He had some stories to tell. And a whole bunch of them, a bunch of us never heard before.”
Graham, who served in the Army Air Corps between 1942 and 1945, was an aircraft mechanic, his family said. He was thought to be one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, a designation with included not only pilots but also support staff. Graham’s family said he was a mechanic with the 99th fighter squadron and later with the 332nd fighter group, also known as the Red Tails.
“He was very proud of being one of the Airmen,” Willis said, of his friend. “But it was funny because when he’d tell stories about it all, he’d say, ‘Ain’t that right, George?’ But I’d have to remind him, I wasn’t old enough to know,” he said with a hearty laugh.
Brew O. Graham of Riverdale died Sept. 27 in his sleep at his home. He was 98. A funeral is planned for 10 a.m. at Lakewin Christian Center, Riverdale. Burial will follow at Georgia National Cemetery, Canton. Watkins Funeral Home, Jonesboro, is in charge of arrangements.
Graham died a little more than a month after his wife, Evelyn Floyd-Graham. Both widowed, the two officially married in 2004, but were together for more than 30 years, said Arvetta Floyd, the daughter-in-law of Evelyn Floyd-Graham.
Brew Graham was known as a sort of jack-of-all-trades. There wasn’t much he couldn’t do, Floyd said.
“And I don’t mean he could kinda do things, he did a lot of things well,” she said. “No matter what you needed, a plumber, electrician, carpenter. …He did it all.”
After the war, the Mississippi-born Graham moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he’d spent time in his youth. He worked as a mechanic there, before retiring to Georgia in the late ’80s or early ’90s.
While Graham seemed to enjoy life, there was a sad spot in his world, Willis said.
“It would bring his to tears sometimes,” his friend said. “But he never had any children. He said if he had it all to do again, he’d like to have some children.”
Graham has no immediate survivors. He had three or four brothers, but they all have since died. He has several nieces and nephews, and counts a number of people among his extended family, Floyd said.
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