___

EMDEN-David Lee McGraw, 83, of Emden, died at 2:40 p.m. August 6, 2013, at Springfield Memorial Medical Center after a long battle with cancer.

Dave was the son of Henry and Carrie McGraw. He was born August 25, 1929, in Eureka, Missouri.

Dave graduated from Eureka High School in 1947 where he was a student council president and an outstanding basketball player. He graduated from Northeast Missouri State University, now Truman State, in 1951 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Physical Education. In 1959 he earned his Master's Degree in Health and Physical Education from Washington University in St. Louis.

Dave was a Korean War veteran, attached to the 7th Infantry Division. He spent thirteen months in Korea including eight months of combat duty. He was a lifetime member of the Pekin VFW and a member of the American Legion Post 506 of Emden.

His teaching and coaching career of 43 years encompassed twelve years at Delavan Jr. High School and 31 years at Hartsburg-Emden Jr. High School. He coached baseball, basketball, and track and field and had many outstanding athletes and teams. He was Hartsburg-Emden's athletic director for 25 years.

In 1999 he was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. He was selected a member of the Hartsburg-Emden Alumni Association Wall of Fame in 2002. He was named honorary Alumnus of Lincoln College in 1996. In 2012, the Hartsburg-Emden baseball diamond was renamed "Dave McGraw Field" in his honor. Dave was named Grand Marshall for the Emden Homecoming parade also that same year. In September 2012, he was able to participate in the honor Flight to Washington D.C., which was a wonderful experience that he shared with his son, David. He was a member of St. Peter's Lutheran Church of Emden.

Dave is survived by his wife, Carol J. McGraw of Emden, his son, David D. (Tara) McGraw of Lexington, and two grandchildren, Brandon and Rachel Anderson of Lexington. He is preceded in death by his parents and step-father, Theodore Rethmeier, and one granddaughter, Lily Anna McGraw. He truly loved his wife, son, and family and was extremely proud of them.

The late Lyndon Westen wrote the following words that sum up Mr. McGraw's professional life: "Academics and athletics were not merely Mr. McGraw's profession. They were his passion."

Services for Dave will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, August 10, 2013 at St. Peter's Lutheran Church of Emden with Rev. John Schurter officiating. Burial will be in Bethel Cemetery, rural Emden, Illinois, with full military rites accorded by Emden American Legion Post 506. Visitation will be Friday from 4:00-7:00 p.m. at St. Peter's Lutheran Church of Emden. Arrangements were entrusted to Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home, Lincoln. Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society or St. Peter's Lutheran Church of Emden, Illinois..