Riverside County
Biographies
WILBERT R. GRAHAM
Wilbert R. Graham is president of Acheson & Graham,
Inc., funeral directors of Riverside, maintaining a beautifully equipped
mortuary at 3391 Main street. He was born in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada, January 15, 1894, his parents being Thomas and Eliza (Frid) Graham, natives of England. The father, a
manufacturer of cutlery and files, crossed the Atlantic to America in young
manhood and located first in Toledo, Ohio, but a short time later established
his home in Canada. He was a man of literary attainments and the author of
several books. His death occurred during the infancy of his son, Wilbert R.,
who was the youngest of thirteen children. The wife and mother passed away in
1926.
Wilbert R. Graham pursued his education in the grammar
and high schools of Almonte, Ontario, where the
family resided for a time. After putting aside his textbooks he was employed in
a men’s furnishing goods establishment as window dresser, salesman and in other
capacities until 1914, when he enlisted for service in the Canadian Army as a
member of the Sixteenth Canadian Scottish Battalion, with which he went
overseas in June, 1915. He was commissioned captain and served in France
continuously from September, 1915, until November 11, 1918, the date of the
signing of the armistice. Returning to Canada, he made his way to Moose Jaw,
Saskatchewan, where he engaged in the mercantile business for two years. In
1921 he came to California and after a brief period spent at Van Nuys removed
to Hollywood, where he was identified with William M. Strother, Inc., a prominent firm of funeral directors. It
was in 1929 that he arrived in Riverside, and here he is successfully engaged
in business as a member of the leading undertaking firm of Acheson &
Graham. He belongs to both the California Funeral Directors Association and the
Citrus Belt Funeral Directors Association.
In 1920 Mr. Graham was united in marriage to Miss Mary
McCurdy, a native of Canada and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George McCurdy. She
takes an active part in club and church work, as does also her husband, who
sings bass in the choir of the First Methodist Church. Mr. Graham is secretary
and treasurer of the Lions Club, senior deacon of Evergreen Lodge,
No. 259, F. & A. M., and also a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Neighbors of Woodcraft. His favorite
form of recreation is golf.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
28 April 2012.
Source: California
of the South Vol. II, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages
355-356, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis.
1933.
© 2012 Marie Hassard.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S RIVERSIDE BIOGRAPHIES