Albert Graves, Jr.

Albert Graves Jr., 74, died on May 8, 2011, at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He was born October 16, 1936, in Hope, Arkansas, to Albert and Alice Graves. Mr. Graves graduated from Hendrix College in 1958, where he served as student body president, and then from Harvard Law School in 1961. He returned to Hope after graduation to practice law at Graves & Graves with his father and grandfather. While practicing law at his family firm, he served as Deputy Prosecuting Attorney from 1962-1966; member of the Board of Law Examiners from 1971-1974; City Attorney from 1979-1981; Juvenile Judge from 1978-1981 and 1985-1986; Circuit/Chancery Judge, Eighth Judicial District of Arkansas in 1982; and Special Chief Justice, Arkansas Supreme Court in 1991. He served as President of Hope Hardware and of Southern Mills, and director on the boards of Citizens National Bank of Hope, First United Bancshares, and BancorpSouth. He was also the self-designated National Traffic Director ("NTD"). He was preceded in death by his parents and his infant daughter, Elizabeth Dawn Graves. He is survived by his wife, Cortney Suzann Graves; his daughters, Julie Graves Bethell and her husband George of Bryant and Allison Graves Warner and her husband Matthew of Little Rock; one sister, Ginanne Graves Long; one brother, John Robert Graves and his wife Sue Ann; five grandchildren, Nicholas Brannan Whitson and his wife Starla of Stillwater, Oklahoma; Andrew Jett Bethell and Allison Elizabeth Bethell of Bryant; and Jacob Albert Graves Warner and Alice Cheeves Warner of Little Rock; two nephews, Robert Long of Little Rock and John Long of Fayetteville; and two nieces, Beth Snider of Little Rock and Heidi Schmidley of Fort Smith. Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at Herndon-Pharr Funeral Home in Hope. A memorial service will be held at First United Methodist Church in Hope at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 15, 2011 under the direction of Herndon-Pharr Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to Hendrix College, Office of Advancement, 1600 Washington Avenue, Conway, Arkansas 72032, or to Arkansas Children's Hospital Foundation, One Children's Way, Slot 661, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72202. Sign our online guest book at www.pharrfuneralhomes.com.