Eugene T. McGraw, 1931 - 2003
Eugene Thomas McGraw, 72, died Sunday, June 29, at Mercy Regional Health Center in Manhattan.
He was a retired professor from the College of Architecture, Planning and Design at Kansas State University.
He was born May 22, 1931, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Thomas Michael and Nora Catherine (Kilcoyne) McGraw.
Mr. McGraw graduated in 1957 with the last graduating class from Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State University, with his Bachelor’s in Architecture and an Associate of Arts. He later earned his master’s from K-State in 1963.
He joined the faculty at K-State in 1958 as an instructor, was promoted to assistant professor in 1964, associate professor in 1968, and professor in 1978. He served the College of Architecture, Planning and Design for 37 years. During his tenure at K-State, he became a founding member of the newly formed Department of Interior Architecture in 1971. Prior to that time, he served in the Departments of Architecture and Regional and Community Planning. Mr. McGraw’s students won many national and international design competitions.
McGraw’s service and activities in the Department of Interior Architecture are distinguished by founding the German Foreign Studies Program in Trier, establishing and coordinating the 15-credit-hour internship program, the placement and securing of a significant number of scholarships and grants for graduating seniors to prominent graduate schools, and his classes’ participation in design competitions that allowed students in his studios to win a significant number of design awards. He also served seven years as a faculty senator, as well as seven years as a national representative on the AIA National Committee on Interiors (one year as national education chairperson) and five years as a founding committee member of the college’s CCOP committee.
Mr. McGraw was an award-winning educator and received the Conoco Undergraduate Teaching Award given by Kansas State University for his outstanding and distinguished teaching career.
He was a member of St. Isidore Catholic Student Center, Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Sigma Delta National Scholastic Societies, Columbian Art Society, and the 15th Air Force Historical Society.
In his retirement he enjoyed genealogy and visiting Ireland.
Survivors include his son, James T. “Tim” McGraw of Colorado Springs, CO; one sister, Mary Helen Corbett of Cleveland, OH; four brothers, John McGraw of Brooksville, FL, Joseph McGraw of College Station, TX, James McGraw of Paducah, KY, and Michael McGraw of Cleveland, OH. He loved his former wife Betty very much.
He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, William and Thomas McGraw; and one sister, Ann Fox.
Mass of Christian Burial was held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at St. Isidore Catholic Student Center with Father Keith Weber as Celebrant. Burial followed in Sunrise Cemetery in Manhattan.
Pallbearers were Steve Murphy, Bob Bullock, Allan Hastings, Fayez Husseini, Al Keithley, and John Selfridge. Honorary pallbearers were Gene Ernst, Vernon Deines, Jack Durgan, Eugene Wendt and Ray Weisenburger.
A Christian Wake service was held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Isidore Catholic Student Center, with the family receiving friends from 6 until 7 p.m. prior to the service.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute at Ohio State University Medical Center for pulmonary fibrosis research. Contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, KS 66502.