Reverend Jack Benjamin Graf was the senior minister at The Unity Church of Raleigh from 1985 until he passed away at 70 years old on May 7, 2004.
Born in Shawnee, Oklahoma in 1933, Jack Graf moved with his family to Mercedes, Texas when he was eight years old. He attended schools in Mercedes and was well known in the Rio Grande Valley for his scat-back running for the Mercedes High School Tigers. Jack Graf majored in Political Science at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, played football and was the Student Body President his senior year.
After school he moved to El Paso, Texas where he followed his love for Dixieland and Ragtime music as co-owner of The Turn of the Century, a three-act melodrama variety show. Because of the speed with which his fingers flew over the piano keys, he was known as "Thousand Fingers Graf." Later Jack Graf played the piano for Shakey's Pizza Parlors in Arizona and Texas. Jack and his wife, Marsha, were co-owners of Sunland Health foods in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and he served on the National Nutritional Foods Association Board. In 1979 he attended the Unity School of Christianity in Lee's Summit, MO and became a Unity Minister. Rev Jack Graf served congregations in Austin, Texas and Detroit, MI before coming to The Unity Church of Raleigh.
Rev Jack Graf loved people and could see the possibilities in everyone for greatness. A positive influence in the community, his enthusiastic speaking style, his interest in physical fitness, Ragtime musical programs to Senior Citizen clubs and the joyful way in which he lived his life will be remembered.