For Leo William “Bill” Graff Jr., a recent stop in Britton wasn’t just another destination on a family road trip. It was a return to the town that shaped nearly every part of his childhood.
Graff, who was born in Britton in 1937 and graduated from Britton High School in 1955, recently visited the community with his daughter, Mary Ashley, and granddaughter during a “back to our roots” trip. Now nearing his 89th birthday, Graff lives in California near Burbank after a 40-year career as a history professor at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Although life has taken him far from northeastern South Dakota, the memories of growing up in Britton remain vivid.
“I’ve always thought it was a great place to grow up,” Graff said. “Everybody knew everybody. It was a friendly, hospitable place, and there was a real civic spirit.”
Graff was the son of Dr. Leo W. Graff, a longtime physician who served the Britton area for more than three decades alongside Dr. E.M. Drissen and Dr. K.P. Currie. The three doctors rotated on-call duties and delivered generations of babies at the hospital that once occupied the building now known as the Continental Apartments.
Growing up as a doctor’s son meant family life could be interrupted at any moment.
“My dad would get called away from meals quite often,” Graff recalled. “Someone needed immediate attention.”
The hospital also holds personal memories for the family. Graff and his three siblings — Mary, Jean and Paul — were all born there, and he remembers seeing his twin sisters in incubators on the building’s third floor.
One of his earliest childhood memories dates to the closing days of World War II. Dr. Drissen kept maps on his office wall marking the movement of American forces overseas. “I remember the day the war ended,” Graff said. “They blew the town siren to announce the Japanese surrender.”
Graff grew up at 104 Ninth Ave. with what he describes as the freedom that many children of his generation enjoyed. “We were free to roam around on our bikes,” he said.
Friday nights often meant a trip to the Strand Theatre, where western stars Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy entertained young audiences. Weekends also brought bustling crowds to downtown Britton.
“Friday and Saturday nights were busy because the farmers came to town,” he said. “There were a lot of people and cars on the streets. There was always something going on.”
Like many teenagers, Graff held several jobs while growing up. He worked at a grocery store, helped carpenters, poured concrete and even worked with the U.S. Geological Survey helping map the area.
His family also spent time at Clear Lake, where his father owned a cabin while Graff was in high school.
“We had a boat, and we liked to fish,” he said.
Some of Graff’s favorite childhood memories revolve around places that no longer exist or have changed dramatically over the decades. His school once stood where the current tennis courts are located. He learned to swim at the town’s old swimming pool and frequently visited the Carnegie Library.
One fascination never faded during his childhood.
“I loved trains,” Graff said. At the time, passenger trains still traveled between Britton and Brampton. Graff often visited the depot, where the station agent became a friend. “He’d let me get on the train and ride to Brampton and back,” Graff said with a smile.
The people of Britton also left lasting impressions. Neighbor Roy Comstock introduced him to golf, while Howard Dakins and his wife gave him his first set of golf clubs. Teachers including second-grade instructor Cora Davis, Mrs. Hicks and high school principal and his baseball coach Robert “Bud” Pearson helped shape his school years.
Baseball, Graff said, was a major part of community life. “I remember the whole community getting behind building the baseball field,” he said. “There was a lot of cooperation.”
Among all his childhood memories, one simple story still stands out. He fondly remembers fishing trips with Alice Jones, the wife of attorney Newton Jones. “She used to take me fishing at Clear Lake and Red Iron,” Graff said. “We’d catch perch. Sometimes you didn’t even need a fishing pole.”
After graduating from Britton High School in 1955, Graff attended the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, where his interest in history blossomed. That passion eventually led to a four-decade career teaching history at Aquinas College. During his career, he served as chair of the history department, received several summer fellowship grants and enjoyed educational travel opportunities with his family.
Although he returned to Britton nearly every Christmas while his parents still lived here, visits became less frequent after they moved away following his father’s retirement in the late 1960s. He has returned for class reunions over the years, visited in 2022 and recently made another stop while traveling through the Midwest.
Some changes were immediately noticeable on these recent visits. “The golf course was one of the first places I wanted to see,” Graff said. “The trees have grown up, the grass greens have matured, and I ran into some old friends there.”
Main Street, he said, also looks much different than he remembers, with new buildings and the post office in a different location.
Yet despite the passage of time, several things have remained constants.
“I’m still impressed that Britton has a hospital and a theater,” he said. He and his family even took a tour of the Strand when here last week.
Today, Graff isn’t sure when he’ll make it back to Britton again. Much of his family now lives on the West Coast, although relatives in Minneapolis provided the opportunity to include Britton on this summer’s travels.
Whether or not another visit is in the cards, Graff said the lessons he learned growing up in a small town have stayed with him throughout his life. “It was a friendly place where people looked out for each other,” he said. “Those are things you don’t forget.”
