Jimmy Graham
Jimmy Graham easily shared the knowledge he gained as an antique dealer who began selling antiques at age 14, as an interior designer and as a garden designer whose Memphis gardens were noted in magazines, a British author’s book and the Smithsonian Institution.
“He taught so many,” Mary Ann Graham, his wife of 43 years, said Wednesday. “He wanted to teach other people and was very generous with his knowledge in each of those areas.”
Mr. Graham died Monday of kidney failure at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis, his widow said. He was 75.
Married in 1969, the couple founded Jimmy Graham Interior Designs, a firm that officially closed its doors earlier this year. For decades, Mr. Graham served a small clientele by spending about three months out of the year searching for just the right antiques in England or France to decorate his clients’ spaces, as well as for his own firm.
Irene Orgill, one of the firm’s clients, said Mr. Graham had exquisite tastes, a wonderful eye for quality antiques and was a joy to work with.
“His results were always wonderful,” Orgill said.
Tom Lee, 75, an antique collector who knew Mr. Graham for years, noted that his friend was the son of a farmer from small-town Alabama.
“He had this desire to be a decorator and an antique dealer, which he pursued the rest of his life, and he particularly loved the antique side of the business,” Lee said.
His widow said that Mr. Graham was born with an innate talent and love for what he did. Born in Union Springs, Ala., he opened his first antique store in his family living room and developed a keen interest in English antiques.
In 1961, he worked as a decorator for an interior design firm in Montgomery, Ala., but moved to Memphis and was on an interior design team for Holiday Inns. In 1963, he joined Cleo Bartholomew Antiques in Memphis, where he began his trips to Europe.
In addition to antiques and interior design, gardening was a third specialty for Mr. Graham, who favored the English cottage-style garden and blended antiques in his designs.
In 1990, the cottage-style garden in the Grahams’ former home in Midtown was included in a book, “American Man’s Garden,” by English author Rosemary Verey, as well as being featured in magazines. In 2008, the Smithsonian Institution accepted the patio garden in the Grahams’ current zero-lot-line home for inclusion in the online Archives of American Gardens, in partnership with the Garden Club of America.
“He pulled you into his universe and there you blossomed, whether in your home or your garden,” said Ruthie Bowlin, who nominated the Graham patio garden for the Smithsonian archives. “He did it and made us laugh all the way.”
In addition to his wife, Mr. Graham is survived by his son, Kent Graham, of Charlotte, N.C. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Calvary Episcopal Church, where Mr. Graham was a member. Canale Funeral Directors has charge.
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