Roberta (Betty) Graham Kohler

Betty passed away Friday April 25 in Pullman from causes related to old age. She was born September 6, 1918, to Roy Blanchard Graham (1886-1950) and Mabel Brooks Graham (1887-1981), of Kansas City, MO, the younger of two girls. She grew up in Chicago and Detroit before marrying Edwin Lawrence Kohler, co-owner of Dad's Cookie Company in Davenport, IA, and settling in Davenport to raise three boys on 2428 Fulton Avenue. She taught English at Sudlow Junior High School in Davenport and later became head librarian of the public library in neighboring Bettendorf. She attained her MLS from UIUC and went on t o hold librarianships in Iowa City, Rock Island, IL, Tarrytown, NY, Cleveland, OH, and Norfolk, VA, before retiring near Gainesville, FL in 1978. Since 2000 she has lived in Pullman.

She was a devoted reader, lover of classical music, gardener, Francophile, and champion of liberal causes, once helping write lyrics for a campaign song for Adlai Stevenson when he was running for President (not officially used, so far as we know).

She was predeceased by her mother, father, sister Mary Alice Linley (1913-2004) and husband Edwin Lawrence Kohler (1914-2000). She is survived by three sons John Lawrence Kohler (Agoura Hills, CA), Bruce Graham Kohler (Paris, France), Timothy Alan Kohler (Pullman, WA), and two grandchildren, Claire Kohler (Austin, TX) and Sander Kohler (Portland, OR). No public memorial service is planned. The family thanks Bishop Place and Avalon Care Center, and our friends, for their wonderful support during her final years.  Kimball Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the family.