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John Graves Obituary
JOHN EARL GRAVES
John Earl Graves, 86, passed away on November 29, 2023, in the company of family. Having moved from Westchester County, NY, just outside of New York City, he was a long-time resident of Bethesda, MD.
John's primary career was providing more than two-and-a-half decades of service to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (The World Bank), with projects across Latin America (including Chile, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Brazil, and Jamaica) and in various countries in Africa. He put together loans that enabled electric power and agricultural projects. He wrapped up his career serving as a regional financial advisor for Africa.
But John's lifelong passion was the business of investing. Over the past 25 years, since his retirement from The World Bank, he set up and managed a mutual fund and established a business practice of providing financial advisory services to individual clients as a Certified Financial Advisor and a Certified Financial Planner. He became a respected provider of sensible financial advice. He continued this work until the day he died.
He is survived by his daughters, Jenny Abrams (Robert) of Charlottesville, VA and Andrea Thackeray (Justin) of Paxton, MA; and his five grandchildren, Jessica Abrams Pressly (James), Chris Abrams, Kelly Abrams Bernart (Bill), Sean Thackeray, and Ryan Thackeray, who will greatly miss his presence at family events, his inventive cooking, his love of intellect (especially politics and world events), music, and art, as well as his competitive participation in family games.
He also leaves behind his long-time companion Hanh Phan of Falls Church, VA, who travelled through life and all over the world with him for the past 35 years.
A celebration of his life will be held on Friday, December 15 at 1 p.m., at Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ, 1 Westmoreland Circle, NW, Bethesda, MD 20816. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to support the music program at Westmoreland Congregational UCC.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for John Graves
3 Entries
Dave McMillan
December 17, 2023
John, Steve Hoffman and I rode in John's car down the hill from Hamilton College to the Park Hotel most every weekday evening from 1956 until our graduation in 1958. There we would drink beer, talk with Onie McCabe, eat Mrs McCabe's cheeseburgers and solve the problems of the world. Those nights together are cherished memories. John will be missed.
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Beth Ferris
December 12, 2023
I met John on the volunteer board - where he took his responsibilities very seriously. Underneath his sometimes gruff exterior, he cared deeply about the welfare of the volunteers (as they were called then), going way beyond the call of duty to make sure they had everything they needed. We got to know each other on the board and then fell in the habit of going out to lunch once every couple of months - always ordering fish - and wine. I looked forward to those lunches - he was usually full of stories about his grandchildren - whom he adored - or talking about his trips with Hanh. He worked hard with his clients and even taught me a little about investments. And although I didn´t see him that often in church, he was such a supporter of Westmoreland. I´ll miss him. Beth Ferris
Lizzy Graham
December 11, 2023
I had do e usher duties with John Graves a few times at church prior to the pandemic. My condolences to the family.
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