Pappy Graf is James Great Grandfather, Father to his Grandmother Loretta.

When Joseph George Graf was born on March 18, 1887, in Schönfeld, Lower Austria, Austria, his father, Joseph, was 33 and his mother, Katherine, was 30. He had one son and two daughters with Rose Margaret Huth between 1920 and 1924. He died on January 2, 1953, in Wyandotte, Michigan, at the age of 65, and was buried in Flat Rock, Michigan.

Pappy was very creative and used to make the childrens gifts by hand. He also created beautiful miniature village displays that were so popular in the neighborhood that the press would come out and photograph them for the newspaper. All of the houses in the display he would make by hand. He would setup this display around Christmas time which created a tradition that lasted for decades in the family of having displays set up at Christmas time.