Ira E. Graham, Age 96

Ira E. Graham, September 5, 1926 – March 15, 2023

Changed thousands of lives over 70 years as an insurance agent in Chicago and suburbs

For over 70 years, Ira Graham helped thousands of clients prepared for their likely and unlikely outcomes, enabling them to be financially comfortable no matter what happened. The letters of thanks that he received nearly weekly from a spouse, child or grandchild gave him, in turn, the peace of mind that the life and disability insurance plans he and his clients made were just right.

Graham, 96, died of natural causes at his Wilmette home. He was born in 1926 in Chicago to Jeffrey and Betty Graham, and attended Lindbloom High School in Chicago’s South side. An Eagle Scout and Duncan Yo-Yo champion, he learned how to drive while making deliveries for Graham & Sons paint, operated by his father and uncles – but had bigger plans for his life than staying in the paint business. In 1948, he begged the commissioning agent to ignore his flat feet, and signed up for a two-year stint in the Navy, achieving the status of quartermaster. Next, he enrolled at Illinois Institute of Technology, served as class president his senior year, and graduated with a degree in Fire Protection Engineering. Within a few months of conducting fire safety inspections, he purchased a life insurance policy, and thinking he could do a better job selling the concept, quit the job and joined that agent representing Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, a position he held for 70 years.

His focus on the individual, quick wit, acute sense of humor and financial acumen made him a natural and he quickly became one of the company’s top ten performers. When the company began offering Disability Insurance in 1969, he immediately saw the need for that as even more relevant than life insurance, and again, became a top performer. His main drive, throughout his life, was to ensure the financial security of his clients, friends and family.

Next to work, the most important thing to Ira was education. At age 40, after being inspired by a viewing of the film, “The Making of a Patriot” during a family trip to Historic Williamsburg, he enrolled in the University of Chicago’s then new, evening Masters of Business Education

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