Graff, Josephine

Josephine "Jo" Graff, 85, passed quietly in her sleep Aug. 19, 
2010, at Nathan Adelson Hospice. She was born Aug. 5, 1925, 
in Seattle, and had been a Las Vegas resident for the past 13 
years, where she had worked at Sonepco FCU. The Jo we knew 
-- She was strong and loud and loving and funny and warm. 
During World War II, she was a successful radio actress and 
singer, performing in many USO shows for men and women in 
the Armed Forces. She dated actors, Richard Long, James 
Arness, Keenan Wynn, Frank Lovejoy, Mel Torme . . . and the 
legendary Rudy Vallee. Jo was deeply frustrated in her personal 
life and it made her focus on her family and her work, first at 
the Screen Gems Studio, then the Musicians Credit Union in 
Hollywood, ending up at Sonepco in Las Vegas, where she found 
a second family to belong to. At Sonepco, she endeared herself 
to the members and became a mother, grandmother, best 
friend and now a guardian angel to all of the folks who worked 
with her. Jo was family to them all and unstintingly shared her 
boundless love and energy with our fur-children and us. All who 
knew her will miss Jo's undying and vibrant spirit, but she will 
live forever in our hearts. Her love for her family was constant 
and their love for her gave her strength. And some of her best 
years, her most rewarding years, were spent working at Sonepco 
with the members of her extended family. Jo loved it there and 
it gave her the opportunity to use her professional talents and 
energy, and, at the same time, to feel warmth, acceptance and 
love from those around her. Jo is survived by her brother, Arthur 
Hamilton of Los Angeles; son, Stacy; daughter-in-law, Miyuki; 
and grandsons, Stephen and Shiloh, all of Las Vegas; 
granddaughter, Michele (her husband, AJ); and great-
grandchildren, Cody and Shelby, all of Georgia. No services are 
scheduled. In lieu of flowers, the family requests any donations 
go to Nathan Adelson Hospice.

Published in Las Vegas Review-Journal from August 28 to 
August 29, 2010