Graham Alfred Tannery, passed away peacefully in his home on September 4, 2018 at the age of 97. Graham was born on August 15, 1921 to the late Homer Okey and Mae Stuart Tannery.

Graham was a native and lifetime resident of Raleigh, NC, growing up in the Boylan Heights neighborhood. After graduating from Hugh Morson High School in 1942 he began his work life at Tire Sales and Service, Inc., the local retail arm of McCracken Oil Company of Henderson, NC. and married his high school sweetheart Dollie Elizabeth Dean. Graham's career with Tire Sales and Service suffered an abrupt interruption when he entered the Army Air Force in 1942 and joined the ranks of those serving our country during World War II. Because he suffered from asthma he was unable to serve on the front lines but went on to support those who did, becoming a Certified Airplane Mechanic and Instrument Specialist. Most of his four years were spent in Texas with Dollie until he was honorably discharged in 1946.

Following his discharge from service Graham returned to work for Tire Sales and Service and a sister company McCracken Supply company, working his way up through the ranks to become the President and CEO of McCracken Supply. Following the death of the last managing member of the McCracken family Graham decided it was time to venture out and pursue other opportunities.

In 1970 Graham teamed up with Seby B. Jones, a local developer and longtime friend to create a startup company known as Northside Storage Company, Inc., a general merchandise distribution company. Northside housed products such as liquor, agricultural chemicals, and medical supplies, holding them for the manufacturer and ultimately fulfilling orders to their customers. In an effort to diversify, Northside began to store business records for clients such as attorneys, CPAS, insurance companies and anyone else who could economically benefit from the offsite storage and management of their inactive and semi-active business records. Ultimately the records management business became the sole activity of the company, driving them out of merchandise storage and resulting in a business that stored over a million cubic feet of records for some 1,100 local businesses. Known by that time as InfoStor, the company sold to an international information management company in 2000 after which time Graham began to enjoy retirement.

More than anything else Graham was a people person. He was quick to strike up a conversation with a stranger and loved to make friends. Some people have many acquaintances or associates but few true friends. Not Graham, he had many friends and it was not uncommon for them to visit at his home after he was no longer able to drive and get out to see them. Over time he cultivated many of those friends through his three favorite activities; his Sunday School Class at Ridge Road Baptist Church, charity involvement and golf.

Graham became involved with the Lions International in the early 1970s and continued to be active until he physically became unable to attend their meetings which has only been within the past year. He served as President of the Raleigh Host Lions Club, helped charter several clubs in North Carolina and was elected to the position of District Governor, a post he was extremely proud of. His other favorite charities were the Capital Area YMCA and Hospice of Wake County. Graham served several terms on the Board of Directors of both and was an active participant for many years in the affairs of camps Seagull and Seafarer.

His other opportunity to meet new friends came along with the chance to enjoy his number one outdoor activity, golf. Graham was a shareholder and member of the Raleigh Golf Association. Until his eighties Graham enjoyed the companionship of other shareholders almost every Tuesday and Friday for a fun round of golf. Even after he quit actively playing he continued to visit the club as often as he could, again until his physical condition prevented him from getting to their gatherings. Attesting to his friendly ways, he was visited just last Thursday by three of his former golfing and Lions Club buddies.

Graham was predeceased by his parents and brother Fred of New York, NY and is survived by his wife of 74 years Dollie. As anyone could imagine, Dollie was an important contributor to his success. She was his biggest fan and cheerleader and always supported him. In their earlier days they loved to "shake a rug", travel and work together to raise a family. In addition to his loving wife he is survived by a son Eric Tannery, daughter Paula Tannery, grandchildren (in order of age) Kelly Mazeine and husband Peter, Don Ward, Brooke Blanton and husband Ty, Graham Ward and one great grandson Tanner Blanton.

Graham's ashes will be interred on Friday September 7, 3:00 P.M. at Montlawn Memorial Park on South Wilmington Street in Raleigh following a Gravęside military service, open to all friends and family.

In lieu of flowers contributions to Hospice of Wake County or the Raleigh Lions Club Clinic for the Blind would be a great honor to Graham.