Robert James Osborn Graf Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Today, in Austin, TX, we said farewell to Robert James Osborn Graf. He died from complications associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. Bob was born in Evanston, IL on December 6, 1935. At an early age, he moved to Corpus Christi with his parents and three siblings. He graduated from Roy Miller High School in 1954, attended Louisiana State University, Del Mar, and graduated from Texas A&M at Kingsville with a BS in Petroleum Engineering in 1959. He married Mary Thompson in 1959 and went to work for Southern Union Company in Dallas and then Mobil in Wichita Falls. Bob attended night classes at Midwestern University to gain biology credits and then returned to school in 1963 and received a DDS from Baylor University in 1967, graduating with honors. He continued his studies, receiving an MSD in 1969 with a specialty in orthodontics. Bob was honorably discharged from the Naval Reserve. The family moved to Houston where he practiced orthodontics and he and Mary raised their two children. Bob found great joy working with kids. He laughed a lot and found ridiculous most of the everyday situations that annoy others. Bob retired in 1992 and he and Mary moved to Waco where he could be a cowboy at the family ranch in Crawford. He established an orthodontic practice in Robinson. There, too, he found “work” to be great fun. A full retirement in 2012 was followed by the move to Austin to enjoy family, and especially his grandsons. He is survived by Mary, his wife of 59 years, their son, Eric, their daughter Soozi and her husband Andy Kershner, and their three grandsons, Cole Kershner, Chase Kershner, and Cash Kershner. He is also survived by his sister Nancy Parten, his brother Bill Graf with his wife Mary, and his brother-in-law Wesley Thompson and his daughter Anne Thompson. He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Thelma Graf, his sister Sally Graf Rascoe, and his brother-in-law Patrick Thompson. Bob’s ashes will be scattered over the land he loved in Crawford, Texas.

Robert James Osborn Graf

December 6, 1935 - January 13, 2019