[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 534]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING CHESTER GRAVES

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                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 21, 2010

  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I wish today to honor a businessman and 
beloved community leader in one of my District's most close-knit 
communities.
  Chester Graves recently retired from the pharmaceutical business 
following a remarkable 60-year career. Chester told his local 
newspaper, The Daily Times in Maryville, Tennessee, that he did not 
have one bad memory of his years as a pharmacist, and his favorite part 
of the job was simply helping people.
  Like many of his generation, Chester served admirably in World War 
II. He then returned home to build a business based on the concept of 
people and personal service.
  Chester did not fully retire until recently, instead choosing to 
continue to work several days a week at the Lowe's Drug Store in 
Maryville up until his 90th birthday.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate Chester Graves on his 
well-deserved retirement and bring to the attention of my Colleagues 
and other readers of the Record a tribute to Chester that appeared in 
The Daily Times on December 14, 2009, which is reprinted below.

           Maryville Pharmacist Retires After 60-Year Career

                           (By J.J. Kindred)

       After more than 60 years in the pharmaceutical business, 
     you would think Chester Graves would have at least one 
     negative thing that happened in his career.
       Not a chance.
       Graves retired last month after a career that spanned more 
     than half of a century. Reportedly he is the longest-serving 
     pharmacist in the State of Tennessee.
       He has his wife's uncle to thank for jump-starting his 
     career.
       ``He had a drug store, and he said if I would go into 
     pharmacy, he would let me come into business with him,'' said 
     Graves, who will turn 90 next month. ``They opened up a new 
     Baptist Hospital in Knoxville and he became a chief 
     pharmacist and he sold his drug store.''
       A McMinn County native, Graves spent more than four years 
     in the military, serving during World War II. He went to 
     pharmacy school at the University of Tennessee at Memphis and 
     worked for the former Cole Drug Store (which became Revco, 
     then bought out by CVS).
       He spent several years in Greeneville, working for Ciba, 
     (Chemical Industries Basel) for 37 years in sales before it 
     merged with Novartis. in 1997.
       He won the Tennessee Pharmacy Association's Lubin Sales 
     Representative Award in 1984.
       For 13 years, Graves worked for Lowe's Drug Store in 
     Maryville in its nursing home division two or more days a 
     week until his retirement.
       He originally wanted to attend college to major in chemical 
     engineering until the pharmaceutical opportunity came along.
       ``I didn't need to be changing (career choices) around all 
     the time,'' Graves said.
       He said with his work at Ciba, which is based in 
     Switzerland, he traveled frequently with the company all over 
     the country.
       So what does Graves attribute his long career to?
       ``I never did drink or smoke,'' he said with a laugh. ``The 
     good Lord has been good to me, and (Lowe's) was exceptionally 
     good to me. I only worked two days a week, but if somebody 
     went on vacation and they needed me, they would call me.''
       Graves said the best thing about being a pharmacist was 
     that ``you help people. A lot of people come in and talk to a 
     pharmacist before they go see a doctor. It's a good 
     profession. What I did over (at Lowe's), they service a lot 
     of nursing homes. We had technicians fill orders and make 
     sure (customers) have the right orders.''
       The pharmaceutical business has changed frequently over the 
     years, Graves said.
       ``Pharmacists don't talk much with the patients like they 
     used to,'' he said. ``I didn't talk to customers much--I 
     worked back in the back. The only people back there were the 
     technicians and me. If there was somebody I knew I would go 
     and talk to them.
       ``I would still be working if I could--I need the money,'' 
     Graves added with a laugh.
       He said he would miss the contact with people he worked 
     with at Lowe's. ``They are very nice people,'' he said.
       Graves added that he would want his legacy to state that he 
     helped a lot of people.
       ``I would hope that I helped a lot of them,'' he said. ``I 
     worked as manufacturer and worked heavily with doctors and 
     druggists. I had a good repertoire. There would be a new drug 
     that would come out and I would tell them what I had been 
     told about the drug.''
       Steve Myers, co-owner of Lowe's, described Graves as a 
     ``professional person. He never became angry and he never met 
     a stranger. He was just very goodhearted, he worked hard, and 
     just a person everybody liked. The biggest thing I will miss 
     about him is his friendship.''
       Now that Graves is retired, what will he do now?
       ``Rake leaves,'' he said with a laugh.

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