Benjamin “Buz” Graham Jr. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family on March 12, 2025 after a long encounter with multiple cancers. He left us at seventy-nine, nine days short of his eightieth birthday. During his last five years, this compassionate doctor became a courageous patient, facing daunting setbacks with resilience and grace. He continued to embrace life fully, welcoming loved ones, sharing meaningful conversations, and getting back on his hiking poles almost until the very end.

Buz will be remembered as a beloved doctor who never turned away a patient, offering each one his full attention, compassion, and care. He dedicated himself to his local community hospital, where he garnered respect as a calm and guiding presence, emanating friendliness as he greeted each staff member and patient by name.

Buz Graham was born in New York on March 21, 1945 to Estelle Graham and Benjamin Graham, “the father of value investing.” In 1967, Buz married his Dutch-born wife, beginning a lifelong partnership rooted in deep love, curiosity, and shared adventure. Together, they traveled the world and raised three children and a grandson. They were happily married for fifty-eight years.

In 1964, nineteen-year-old Buz Graham volunteered to join hundreds of Black Mississippians and college students who traveled to Mississippi to register Black voters—a campaign known as Freedom Summer. The efforts of Buz, his fellow volunteers, and the Mississippians they stood alongside helped pave the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

As a college student, Buz suffered a life-threatening cancer diagnosis and underwent extensive surgery and medical treatments. Grateful to the physicians who saved his life, he decided to give back—taking pre-med courses, applying to medical school, and ultimately becoming a doctor of internal medicine. Through his practice of medicine, he touched hundreds of lives.

Buz is survived by his wife, three children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild, as well as nephews and nieces, including the niece who writes this blog. Regarding his prolonged bout with cancer, Buz wrote in his last email to family members and friends:

“These past few years have been physically challenging, but emotionally extremely rewarding. I would not have missed it for the world.”