Longtime Employee Roscoe Graham Dies
Employee noted for warm, open style of greeting Duke Hospital visitors
When Roscoe Graham retired after more than 50 years of working at Duke, he still couldn't stay away. He came back part-time and became Duke Clinic's goodwill ambassador, collecting errant trays for the food court and greeting and helping visitors navigate their way around the hospital and clinics.
Graham, one of the most well-known and beloved employees in Duke Hospital died Sunday, May 6. He was 94.
Graham started working at Duke when he was 28 and he frequently described the university as his second home. His first job was in the main hospital kitchen as a relief worker. He took on duties as a porter and a butcher and a storeroom attendant. In 1972, he was transferred to a food service aid position. In 1975, he became a dietetic supervisor.
He actually retired three times from Duke in the 1970s and 1980s after what for most people would have been a full career, but he kept coming back. In 1990, to mark his 50th year at Duke, co-workers in General Services raised money to send him on a vacation to Hawaii.
More than his longevity, Graham was known for his warmth and personal nature, greeting visitors and hospital employees.
"Roscoe would help the visitors through the line and even carry their trays if they were informed. The patients confined to wheel chairs were directly in his care when they arrived at the cafeteria," said Jane Bahor, a Duke anaplastologist. "After he retired, he still worked greeting patients and employees, collecting trays from all over Duke South . He had his own special cart for tray pick-up -- ‘Roscoe's Cart' -- and no one else was allowed to use it!"
A basketball fan, Graham attended all of Duke's men's basketball home games until this year when his failing health prevented it. He permanently retired from Duke last year after a leg injury, Bahor said.
At a celebration marking Graham's 50 years of service at Duke, Robert O'Connell, then director of Division of General Services," said Graham showed that employees could also be teachers.
"Never once has Roscoe surrendered the belief that he works at one of the finest institutions in the country," O'Connell said. "He also never surrendered the belief that he was one of the best employees at Duke. He has taught me, as well as others, a lot of about people at work and the history of working people here at Duke. He has also served as a teacher to young people; he has taught them about values about right and wrong and the importance of hard work."
Funeral services will be held at Russell Memorial CME Church at noon on Thursday, May 10. A visitation will be held at 11 a.m. with the service beginning at noon. Click here for the full obituary. Click here for directions to the church.