Donald Lee Graber, 91, passed away on Monday, October 12, 2020 at Christ Care Nursing Home. Private services will be held at a date not yet determined. Burial will be at Prairie Lawn Cemetery, 1422 Harvey Avenue in Wellington, Kansas. Don was born July 18, 1929 in McPherson, Kansas, the son of Bernard and Saloma (Miller) Graber. He grew up with two brothers and a sister in Kingman, Kansas, and graduated from Kingman High School in the class of 1947. After graduation, he attended both Bethel College and Kansas State University. On December 4, 1949, he married Marie Yates in Kingman. They were the proud parents of two children: Amanda Lea and Stephen Clark. Because of Mandy's needs with cerebral palsy, they moved to Wichita to a residential cottage on the campus of the Institute of Logopedics at Wichita University. They became deeply committed and involved with other families in furthering the work of the Cerebral Palsy Association of Wichita, raising funds for its future, and joined other families in the 1979 development of The Timbers, a 100-unit apartment complex and the first HUD property in the nation allowing independent living for adults in wheelchairs. Later, when their son Stephen Clark developed schizophrenia, they became equally as devoted to NAMI, the National Association for those who are mentally ill. Stephen Clark died on Jan. 23, 2018. In 1965, Don established an independent insurance business in Wichita, Don L. Graber Insurance Agency, and Marie joined him as a licensed agent and agency partner. Marie passed away on December 14, 2007, at the age of 77 and after 58 years of marriage. Don was also an avid golfer and a member of the Rolling Hills Country Club for many years. Don is survived by his daughter, Amanda Lea of Wichita. Other survivors include his brother Allen and wife Carol of Wichita, brother Harlan (Cot) and wife Kay of Mount Vernon, Iowa, as well as nephews Kelly and Kurt Graber of Wichita, David Graber of Wilmington, North Carolina, and Jack Graber of Woodstock, Georgia, and extended family members. The family would like to thank the staff of Christ Care Home Plus nursing facility for their compassionate care of Don the past 2 years. Memorials are suggested for the Timbers at 2021 N. Old Manor Road in Wichita, the Cerebral Palsy Association of Wichita, or NAMI of Wichita, Inc.
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