Article for The Breeze Newspaper By Bruce Doorly
During the war, he was Chairman of the Somerville Military Service Committee. Under his leadership they held send-off dinners for the men going off to war.
In addition, they built an honor roll display that listed all the Somerville men and women that were serving their country. Father Graham was also an excellent speaker who spoke at many events.
Robert Graham was born in Brooklyn in 1897. After graduating from St. John’s University in 1918, he went on to “Our Lady of Angels Seminary” at Niagara University where he received his Master’s Degree.
Ordained in 1922, his first assignment was serving as curate (assistant to the pastor in-charge) in Bernardsville at “Our Lady of Perpetual Help.”
In December of 1938, he was again transferred. This time to the Immaculate Conception Church in Somerville. Back then, the church and the rectory were located on High Street at the south-east corner of Davenport Street.
As a priest, he was very interactive with the community. Photography was one of his passions. Numerous newspaper articles tell of him winning photo contests.
Father Graham always kept up on current events, especially international affairs. Even before the U. S. entered the war, he had the parish collect goods for the “Bundles for Britain” drive as Britain had been heavily damaged by the German Air Force. When the United States entered the war after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, Father Graham wanted to be an Army Chaplain who served with the troops overseas. While he was granted permission by the bishop to do so, when he went to the army for a physical, he was rejected. At 45 years-old, he was deemed not fit for the rigors involved in traveling with combat troops.
While rejected from serving directly, he vowed to make the most of his effort on the home front.
High St. at the south-east corner of Davenport St.
He noticed that men were being sent off to war with little or no recognition from the community. So, he set out to change that, organizing send-off dinners for those leaving for the military. In addition to the dinner, he also made sure that they received a gift. Once in the service, he did not want them to be forgotten. Thus, he organized letter writing campaigns and sent them supplies that the military did not provide.
At the first of these dinners, he acted as toastmaster giving the future servicemen an interesting piece of advice, telling them to “place your ideals so high that you never will be able to attain them.”
He spoke to a group of air-raid wardens asking them to go door to door to obtain the names of those serving. No one would refuse Father Graham – they all agreed. A large wooden display was built in front of the Somerset Court House with the names on it.
Then on July 4th 1943, a parade was held before the unveiling of the Honor Roll. There were 3,000 in attendance. Father Graham spoke at the ceremony saying that it would serve as a “symbol of unity ... and sacrifice for the people of Somerville.”
That day Father Graham was invited to give the sermon. He spoke about what was now expected of Sergeant Basilone, stating that as a national hero his life will be a guide for American youth.
There he said that “we can honor our fallen heroes by refusing to submit to totalitarianism in any part of the world.” Another one of his war time duties was chaplain for the Army Quartermaster Corps at the Belle Mead Depot.
In 1946, the Church of the Immaculate Conception, under his leadership, made its first move towards Mountain Avenue (where the church complex is today) when the church purchased the spacious Schafer residence at 35 Mountain Avenue and made it the parish center.
Initially the property needed a lot of work, so he encouraged the congregation to bring their tools to fix up the property.
In his travels he said mass at the Shrine of the Miracle of Fatima in Portugal. The highlight of his visit was being received by Pope Pius XII at the Vatican.
To build the Immaculate Grammar School, land was purchased next to the parish center on Mountain Avenue. A long and persistent fund-raising campaign was led by Father Graham. This author posted on Facebook asking for memories of Father Graham. While many had positive comments, one thread stated how he rubbed people the wrong way preaching in the church that the parishioners were not giving enough for the fund to build a grammar school. Where he could not obtain money right away, he took future pledges for donations and followed up with the families to be sure that the money pledged came in. That was Father Graham, passionate about goals for the local community.
The school which would be called the Immaculate Conception School, opened in 1957. It continues to this day.
The church on High Street that Father Graham preached at tragically burnt down on January 6th 1965. A new church on Mountain Avenue would be completed in 1975.