- Date Of Birth: January 3, 1933
- Date Of Death: February 28, 2019
- State: Georgia
Harriette Stripling Graham passed away at her home on February 28, 2019. She was born in Newnan, Georgia on January 3, 1933 the only child of Lillian Camp Stripling and Hal Stripling. She was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Dr. Thomas Caston Graham. Their first meeting set the tone for their lifelong devotion. While 6 year old Harriette was playing at the house of her best friend Emily Thomasson Sealy, she spotted young Tom next door. “Let’s throw rocks at him!” she shouted. Over Emily’s objections, she threw her rocks and won his heart. After graduating from Newnan High School, she attended Wesleyan College on a full scholarship and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Chemistry. She married right away and moved to join Tom in Durham, North Carolina where she worked in the Duke University medical research laboratory. After moves to Atlanta, Okinawa, and Augusta, the now family of five settled back in Newnan. As a stay at home mother, Harriette put her chemistry degree to good use, filling huge weather balloons with homemade hydrogen for the entertainment of her children and occasionally blowing things up. She never followed the crowd or cared about social niceties. Her sense of humor and biting wit were her trademarks. She was a master gardener who loved to grow vegetables and hated flowers. She was a duplicate bridge Life Master whose cut throat game play struck fear into the hearts of her opponents. She was just fun. She is survived by a son Hal Graham (Susan), a daughter Elizabeth Doster (Sam), a granddaughter Samantha Doster and a grandson Will Doster. She was preceded in death by her eldest son Thomas Caston Graham Jr.
