David Phillip Grafton

David Phillip Grafton, 82 of Hobe Sound, FL, formerly of Norwell and Osterville, MA, passed away on Wednesday, December 22, 2021 surrounded by his loving family. Born in Quincy, he was the son of the late Edmund C. and Mary R. (Kelley) Grafton.

David is survived by his wife Dona M. (Costa) Grafton and their children David Grafton, Cheryl Grafton, Tim Grafton of Andover and grandchildren Justin Grafton, Derek and Maricel (Ignacio) Grafton, and Maxwell Grafton. His brothers, the late Lt. Paul Grafton (USN), Vincent and Jeanne (Lese) Grafton of Punta Gorda FL, his sisters the late MaryAnne Grafton-Rodgers, and Elizabeth Higginbotham and her husband John of Tiverton RI. He is survived by his sister-in-law Babs Demand and many nieces and nephews.

David grew up in West Quincy and played hockey at Quincy High School after which he began his career in construction. In 1960 he bought and cleared land in Norwell, MA, there he built a home where the family resided until 2006.

He was devoted to his family, loved boating and fishing on the Cape & Islands, in Florida, and traveling with his wife. He coached youth hockey and taught friends and family about having strong work ethics in all aspects of life. He was involved in construction projects from New England to Saudi Arabia (constructing the King Saud University) where he spent two years with his wife. David enjoyed telling interesting stories of his life experiences to anyone in his immediate realm.

David had over forty-five years of experience in safety and construction operations. He was a member of Local 4 Operating Engineers from 1960-1989 operating heavy equipment, such as cranes, derricks, and hoists, etc. From 1990 to 2006 he was employed with the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA, first as a compliance officer, then as Special Assistant to the Regional Administrator as Labor Liaison Region 1, New England. His experience has been in development, implementation and evaluation of safety programs for construction and demolition projects, and also for general industry and marine work locations. He taught over eight hundred safety classes which included the safe operation of material handling, excavation, mobile and tower cranes, derricks, steel erection, drill rigs, tunnel boring machines, piledrivers, scaffold, ladder, and electrical training. He was also involved in the development of several ANSI and OSHA standards.

He was passionate about the safety of workers in the construction field. Upon retirement from OSHA, he formed Grafton Safety Consulting to help workers and their families who were victims of construction incidents. He performed Safety in the Workplace inspections for many businesses.

David will be missed and remembered by those he loved and touched with his life.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, January 5th from 3-7 PM at the Sullivan Funeral Homes, 551 Washington Street, Route 53, Hanover, MA. All other services will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations in David's name can be made to the Cape Cod Healthcare Foundation, designated to the VNA of Cape Cod, PO Box 370, Hyannis MA 02601. https://support.givetocapecodhealth.org/donate.