Ian Edward Graham

SPOKANE, Wash. - Ian Edward Graham, 58, died Feb. 13, 2015, at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, with his wife at his side, after a valiant battle with the flu, pneumonia and complications. Ian was born in Cambridge, Mass., on Oct. 3, 1956, to the late Edward D. Graham and Marion (Ives) (Graham) Willis. He moved to Derry, N.H., in 1965, attended Derry schools and graduated from Pinkerton Academy in 1974. At Syracuse University he majored in communications (video/media writing, production and post-production). After college, he worked in New York City for network cooking shows (and became a gourmet cook), then for a "woods and water show" that involved on-location photography of American wildlife. A classic example is a sequence shot in Denali Nat'l Park of a dozen bear cubs learning how to fish during spring salmon run, each cub using a different technique to land its prey.In 1982 Ian married Rebecca Knox of Syracuse, N.Y. They lived in Brooklyn, then Florida, N.Y., and moved in the late ‘80s to Spokane where Ian and a friend founded Image Productions, a successful free-lance video production and advertising business. One of their contracts was for a series of online high school and college level courses which Ian researched and developed on a variety of subjects, for example, "The Scientific Method." He had a beautiful speaking voice which he used to his advantage in voice-overs for many clients. Most recently, he researched and edited an eye witness's account of a lurid 1937 murder in Montana. The book, "Murder in Montana", was published in November 2014.Ian was widely read in many subjects. His broad knowledge and huge heart allowed him to relate effortlessly to people of all ages and backgrounds. He also loved animals, as a series of faithful dogs well knew. (His aunt says, "he spoke dog well.") Among other interests, both he and his wife were active in state and county Democratic Party politics in the Greater Spokane area; they manned many booths at local festivals.Ian was brilliant, mercurial, funny, creative and artistic, with an incisive imagination, a real individualist. He died too soon and will be sorely missed.Survivors include his wife, Rebecca (Knox) Graham, of Newman Lake; mother Marion (Ives) Willis, of Derry, N.H.; brother Gordon Graham, of Derry, N.H.; stepbrother Peter Graham, and stepsister Ann (Graham) Nichols, of Lansing, Mich.; stepsister Janet (Willis) Jones, of Winchester, Mass.; stepbrother Richard Willis, of Willow Grave, Pa.; dear aunts, Margaret Ives and Elizabeth Ives, of Derry, N.H.; uncle, Robert T. Ives, of Valparaiso, Ind.; and numerous beloved nieces, nephews and cousins.There will be a gathering to celebrate Ian's life in Spokane in March, and in Derry, N.H., in April.