Longtime Big Bend EDC, Lincoln County leader dead at 75

Friends remember Graedel as ‘great public servant’

COLUMBIA BASIN — Many residents of the Columbia Basin will remember this weekend a man they describe as dedicated to community service.

Irwin W. “Bill” Graedel died at 6 a.m. Tuesday at the Odessa Memorial Hospital. He was 75.

Services are 11 a.m. Saturday at the Odessa Christ Lutheran Church, located at 602 E. Amende Drive in Odessa.

He served on numerous boards in the Columbia Basin, including a 25-year tenure with the Big Bend Economic Development Council and time as a Lincoln County commissioner.

Graedel also served on the board of the Columbia Basin Resource Conservation and Development District, the board of advisors for the Area Administration on Aging, as a board member of the North Columbia Community Action Council and as chairman of the Inland Empire Railway Historical Society, among others.

Graedel is survived by his wife Delores, his brother Calvin and numerous children, grandchildren and a great-grandson.

According to former Big Bend Economic Development Council Executive Director Bill Riley, Graedel’s grandfather, the Rev. Godfried Graedel, arrived in 1880 from Bernd, Switzerland, and ministered to the reformed German Congregational Church in six northwestern states. Graedel will be interred in the family plot at Odessa.

The Graedels farmed 3,600 acres, 1,800 of which were irrigated, near Odessa until 1992.

“He was an electrical engineer by education, but much more than that, Bill was one of the nicest persons I ever met,” Riley said. “He never had a harsh word for anyone and always gave the individual the benefit of the doubt. In the 15 years I’ve known him, I never heard anyone speak ill of him.”

Graedel served on numerous boards, Riley pointed out, and gave freely of his time. Right up until his passing, Riley added, he was still serving on those boards.

“The public should hold in their hearts the fact there are people like this who will serve freely, without looking to benefit themselves, for the benefit of the community and for the region,” Riley said. “It’s important for people to realize that someone has to step up and fill the shoes of those of us that are elderly and serve in these positions. It would be a good tribute to Bill for the men and women of the community to think about serving on these various boards and giving of themselves for the benefit of the community and the region.”

Current economic development council executive director Michael Buchanan had known Graedel for about three years, including the time he worked for the council in the 1990s.

“Bill Graedel was a man that always thought outside of the box,” Buchanan said. “He never saw a problem where he didn’t see a solution. A lot of the things he suggested were unique and cutting edge. He just had this wonderful approach to solving problems, whether they were economic development problems or just people problems.”

Buchanan stressed the work Graedel was doing toward improving Lincoln, Grant and Adams counties is work which still continues.

Grant County Commissioner Richard Stevens, who serves on the economic development council board as president, said Graedel put a lot of time into public service, trying to help, and he got to know him on the council board.

“We’re going to miss him,” Stevens said. “He was somebody who was willing to serve and put time in. He was a fun individual. He was always kidding me about being a county commissioner. Of course, he’d been one in Lincoln County for a while, and I looked forward to seeing him. I’m going to miss him.”

So will Ken Sterner, executive director of the community action council.

“Bill Graedel was a very humble, intelligent man who cared about people,” Sterner said. “It didn’t matter who they were or what their status in life was. It didn’t matter, he just cared about people. He spent most of his adult life trying to help them in one fashion or another. He was an asset to his community, and certainly was an asset to our organization and he will be missed.”

Eugene Hawk, historian for the Inland Empire Historical Railway Society, remembered Graedel as a very helpful, kind person.

“I thought he’d done a lot of good things for the society,” Hawk said “Through his connections, he got us the property we now have out of Reardan for our new museum site.”

Graedel seemed to know the right people to go to and ask questions, Hawk added.

“He was a great friend and a great public servant who had a heart for others that was as huge as the great Inland Empire itself,” said Bruce Buckles, executive director of Aging and Adult Care of Central Washington.

Graedel served as a board member on the advisory board for the organization for many years, and also served on the council government board when he was a commissioner for Lincoln County.

“He was extraordinary in his concern for the well-being of other people,” Buckles said. “He truly embodied a Christian spirit of loving his neighbor and caring for those who are in need.”

Graedel’s commitment was to fairness and to the legal process that everyone be treated fairly and equitably in front of the legal system, Buckles added.

“I will miss him as a friend very, very greatly and I will miss him as a mentor, and I will miss him as a leader,” Buckles said. “It is a great blessing of God to have known him and to see his example of caring for others. I am thankful for him and know he is a person who loved God and his fellow human being. I know the Lord was with him in his life.”