Volunteer Spotlight

Ed Grafe

An observer watching Ed Grafe patiently evaluating, sorting, and packing foreign stamps would never imagine the memories of a remarkable life behind the calm demeanor of this long-time PHF volunteer.

Born in Collinsville, Illinois, of German immigrant stock, Ed was graduated from a Lutheran school and immediately began working in an exclusive men’s store earning more than his brothers and fathers.  In 1938 Ed enlisted in the Navy with his tour including the South Pacific theater and New Zealand.  One of his assignments put him at Pearl Harbor on the fateful day of the attack.  Having survived the attack at Pearl Harbor, Ed went on to become chief petty officer in 1942, and later he served as warrant officer on Admiral Bull Halsey’s staff.  His last operational activity was at Tarawa, and he returned to the United States in 1944 where he married his wife Lorraine.  Soon afterwards, he was ordered back to the Pacific for the Saipan invasion serving on board the USS Curtiss.  He was assigned to the staff of Adm. Hoover, headquartered in Guam, where his primary job was to provide matériel used for the invasion of Japan.  After the second bombing of Japan in 1945, Ed was on board the Missouri as part of the staff and witnessed the now historic signing of the peace treaty.

In 1960 after twenty-two years of service, Ed retired from the Navy.  After logging four years in the insurance field, he opened agencies in San Pedro, CA, and Phoenix, AZ.  He bought an old Nevada ranch populated with two bands of sheep and two shepherds.  He built a retirement home near Lake Tahoe, but he and his wife moved to California to escape the high altitude which was creating health problems for Lorraine.

Finally in 1991, Ed and Lorraine moved to Tucson, and by 1992, Ed was volunteering at the PHF in the Foreign Department. In his world travels, Ed would go into each foreign local post office and buy one of every stamp available. When he started collecting seriously in 1960, it then required three years to sort and mount the stamps he had randomly picked up in his travels.   When he began volunteering at the PHF, Ed sold his foreign collection but kept his U.S. collection of mint stamps and is still adding to it.

Currently, Ed heads up the foreign stamp desk where he’s been in charge for the last five years.  His primary purpose is sales where he supplies customers worldwide.  We salute Ed for his work and dedication to duties at the Postal History Foundation and thank him for his service to our country.