MALCOLM GRAHAM

Malcolm "Mac" Graham, 96, of Las Vegas passed away Friday, January 17, 2020, at the Wentworth of Las Vegas Memory Care. Malcolm was born November 26, 1923, in Bristol, PA, to Robert Neely and Eva (Gropp) Graham. He was the middle child of seven in a family that lived through the Great Depression and pre-World War II years in a manner somewhat similar to that depicted in the 1970s television series, The Waltons. His father was a teacher at the Trenton (NJ) High School who moved his large family to a farm in Bucks County, PA, in 1937 so that his six boys could learn farming skills, contribute to the family food supply, and generate cash by selling the excess produce at a roadside stand. Malcolm was an exceptionally resourceful man, and he learned much of that on the farm. Malcolm was barely 18 on December 7, 1941, at the start of World War II. He served in the U.S. Army and later completed his bachelor’s degree at Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) in 1946. He earned a master’s degree at the University of Massachusetts in 1948 and a doctoral degree in mathematics education at Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1954. He paid for his education with the GI Bill, several scholarships and teaching assistantships, and later by holding down full-time mathematics teaching positions at Marion Military Institute in Marion, AL, and at Longwood College (now University) in Farmville, VA. Malcolm accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Longwood College in the fall of 1951 where he met a sophomore math major, Carolyn Leffel, who was to become his wife in the not-toodistant future. They were married on August 23, 1952, and Carolyn graduated in May 1953. They moved to Greenville, NC, in the fall of 1955 where Malcolm became an Associate Professor of Mathematics at East Carolina College (now University). In the fall of 1956 Malcolm and Carolyn and their two young children, Joyce and John, moved to Las Vegas where Malcolm joined eleven other professors from across the U.S. to become the core, full-time teaching staff of the Southern Regional Division of the University of Nevada. (He was the youngest of the twelve at age 32.) This would grow to become the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or UNLV, in 1969. Malcolm wrote a college textbook for elementary and junior high school education majors entitled Modern Elementary Mathematics, which was published by Harcourt Brace in 1970. Subsequent editions were published in 1975, 1979, and 1984. He retired from UNLV as Emeritus Professor of Mathematics in 1985 after teaching for 29 years. In 1993, Malcolm and Carolyn moved to Sun City, Summerlin, and Malcolm became the first president of their sub-association HOA. He was also very active in the Sun City Investment Club. He was the featured speaker at a number of their programs, giving his last speech on investments in 2007 at age 83. Malcolm and Carolyn took many interesting trips after Carolyn retired in 1990 from teaching mathematics in the Clark County School District for 28 years. Malcolm was very proud of his association with UNLV from its earliest beginning in 1956. He enjoyed teaching mathematics to undergraduate education majors, and he believed in the importance and power of public education. He also enjoyed teaching a course in the mathematics of finance for the business department. He was a good and loving husband, father, uncle, friend, professor, and advisor. He was greatly loved by his family, friends, and students, and he will be missed. Malcolm is survived by his wife of 67 years, Carolyn (Leffel) Graham; two grandsons, John Takacs of Miami, FL, and Alex Malcolm Graham of Albany, NY; nephews David and Kenneth Arnold and niece Anne Arnold of Wilmington, DE; sister-in-law Erna Graham of West Chester, PA; and many other nieces, nephews, and extended family members. He was predeceased by his parents, Robert Neely and Eva (Gropp) Graham; his three children, Joyce Graham Takacs, John Robert Graham, and Carl William Graham; and his sister, Louise Graham Arnold (Charles), and five brothers, Robert (Virginia), Warren (Ema), Leonard, William (Marie), and John Graham. A family memorial service will be held later in the spring. Donations may be made to the Malcolm and Carolyn L. Graham Scholarship Fund at the UNLV College of Sciences (702-8953488).