Grahams Receive McKendree’s ‘Friends of the University’ Award
Recognition is Given on Founders’ Day
Lebanon, Ill. — McKendree University observed its 184th anniversary on Feb. 21 with a Founders’ Day program at the Russel E. and Fern M.
Hettenhausen Center for the Arts. O’Fallon Mayor Gary Graham and his wife, Lucia K.S.
Graham, a university trustee, accepted the Friends of the University Award, which
honors non-alumni for their exemplary service.
“Gary and Lucia Graham have been friends of McKendree University for more than 15
years,” noted Dr. James Dennis, president. “Their impact has been felt as citizen
leaders in the Metro- East, as volunteers and as philanthropists. The university has
benefitted from the community leadership that Gary provides in O’Fallon and from the
vision and guidance that Lucia provides as a member of the Board of Trustees.”
Gary Graham is the president of LUCO, Inc., a river barge company, and serves as mayor
of the City of O’Fallon. Over the past 30 years, he has worked in the life insurance
business and with his wife, owned and managed the Westwood Country Club in Paducah,
Ky.
Prior to his election as mayor in 1997, Graham was a Ward 2 alderman, school board
member for O’Fallon District 203, and Planning Commission member. He was appointed
by the governor to the Southwestern Illinois Development Authority in 2001 and to
the East-West Gateway Coordinating Council in 1997. He also served on the Southwestern
Illinois Regional (MidAmerica) Airport Task Force. He is on the board of the National
League of Cities; chairman of the Southwestern Illinois College Foundation Board;
and amember of the Southwestern Illinois YMCA Board, Council of Mayors, SWIMPAC, O’Fallon
Economic Development Council, Rotary Club, O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce, Shriners
and Elks.
Throughout her life, Lucia Scheu Graham has been a dedicated educator of students,
from the elementary grades through college. Early in her career, she taught first
grade in several different communities where the couple made their home. Beyond the
classroom, she supervised student teachers and served on various special curriculum
teams and parent-teacher organizations, often in leadership positions.
Since 1996, she has been a member of the McKendree University Board of Trustees. She
is currently vice chair of the Committee on Trustees.
The Grahams are long-time members of the William McKendree Society for donors to the university. As strong supporters of the arts, they were instrumental
in the building of the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts on campus. They are past recipients
of the Illinois Art Education Association’s Distinguished Service to the Profession
of Art Education Award.
Dr. Dennis closed the Founders’ Day program with a “State of the University” address,
discussing recent accolades, aspirations and challenges for McKendree’s future.
-McK-
