Wesley Graff resident article

Wesley Graff

            Wesley Graff was born September 14th 1925 in Enterprise Utah, to Winnie and Chester Graff. Wesley was the olderst, he had three brothers and one sister. His sister died of pneumonia six months after she was born and one of his brothers died a day old.

            Wesley remembers moving around a lot while while his father worked. His father taught school.  They moved out to Nevada for two years while his father worked then once the job was finished they would move back to Enterprise with the grandma. They would repeat this every time his father was finished teaching somewhere they would move back to the grandma's house. His father would go work out in the fields and on the farm when he wasn't teaching.

            When Wesley was eight his father moved them to Orem, where he bought eight acres of fruit farm. He remembers Orem when it was a small town. There were two grade schools, a grocery store, and a few small businesses. He worked on the farm from when he was twelve to Fifteen. At the age of sixteen he got a job at Geneva Steel. Then at the age of seventeen he worked as a construction laborer on homes.

            Wesley didn't date until he was a senior in high school. His first date was when he asked a girl named Melva Mott to senior prom. He dated her until he was drafted into the airforce when he turned eighteen in December 1943. He wasn't able to stay in the airforce because of his eyes so he moved over to the Army. He went over to Illinois where he rebuilt engines. Then he moved over to Washington DC to do clerical work. He went to a twelve week course in basic training at camp Shelby in Mississippi.

            In December 1944 to the end of January Wesley fought in the battle of the Bulge in Normandy France. He was in what was called the Pioneering Plattoon. They supplied ammunition to the front lines. They stayed in a farm house for six weeks. One day as they were driving a truck of ammunition to the front line they were ambushed. They fought with what they had. The last thing Wesley remembers was an explosion from the truck and the flames.

            He woke up ten days later in an English hospital. His jaw broken, his upper lip partially gone, part of the skull above the eyes was in bad shape, he lost his right eye, chipped teeth, and he had a piece of shrapnel lodged in his brain, which he still has today since the doctors felt it was a risk to take it out. They shipped him back to America to Rhode Island where he was considered a prisoner of war and was given thirty days referal.

            Wesley went through countless surgeries and seven hospitals just to reconstruct all the damage to his face. He had a fake eye, a plate in his skull, several plastic surgeries for his lip, they fixed his chipped teeth, and fixed his jaw. It was a miracle he lived through such an event.

            Through all of this Wesley's soon to be wife Melva Mott, who kept in touch with him through letters, stood by his side. They had to post pone the wedding once in between surgeries because the mother of the bride was expecting. But they were finally able to get married in the Salt Lake Temple on September 18th 1946. Joseph F. Smith performed their marriage.

             He took an auto mechanics class at a trade tech school in Provo. He also went to BYU for a year. In 1948 he bought the fruit farm from his father. He had several jobs here and there and had to sell three acres of his land where he helped build houses for people. The job he retired from in 1990 was a Custodian position at BYU. He was the head custodian in the a few buildings but mainly the Science building.

            Wesley and his wife had four beautiful girls. On October 5th 2010 Wesley lost his wife to health problems. He moved to the Seville March 1st 2012 and enjoys all the people and activities they have to offer.