Br. Michael Graf, OFM Cap., a native of Kiel, Wis., died in Tucson, Ariz., on March 2 at age 72 after suffering for years from congestive heart failure. At the time of his death he was local vicar of San José Friary and also assisted in Christian Formation at Our Lady of Fatima Parish.

Br. Michael was named Daniel at the time of his birth at Sheboygan, Wis., on June 15, 1940. His parents, Walter and Marie (Maltby) Graf, ran a tavern in Kiel.

He was invested with the Capuchin habit in 1959 and made his first profession the following year. He was solemnly professed in March 1963. Following some years of additional training, he worked as a cook at St. Joseph Parish for several years before receiving a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from St. Norbert College in DePere, Wis. His fellow friars at St. Joseph’s elected him local vicar in 1973.

In 1975, Br. Michael began nine years of service as a vocation director at St. Lawrence Seminary High School and for the province. He continued his ministry with youth in 1984, when he became part of the team at St. Clare Capuchin Retreat in St. Clair, Mich. He helped to launch the successful golf outing fundraiser, which is now a staple of other ministries in the Province of St. Joseph.

Following the end of his retreat ministry in 1991, Br. Michael spent the bulk of his remaining years working as a pastoral associate in parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit. In 1998 he was asked by the Province to initiate a new presence of the friars in Tucson, Ariz.

Casa San José, housed in the former convent of St. Augustine Cathedral, has served since then as a residence for missionaries returning from years of working in warmer climates and for friars doing pastoral work in the Diocese of Tucson.

Br. Michael was preceded in death by his parents; his uncle and aunt James and Angeline Graf; step-mother Katherine as well as his brother Charles (Chuck); sister Sue Ann (Reichwald) and step-brother Curt Duecker, along with cousins Robert (Elaine) Graf and Harvey (Esther) Graf. He is survived by his brother Jim (Yolanda) of Sheboygan, Wis.; step-sisters Mary Kay (Edward) Stevens of Tampa, Fla., and Diane (Steve) Saunders of Peoria, Ariz., and sister-in-law Martha Graf of Appleton; step-sister-in-law Charlotte Duecker of Sheboygan; along with beloved nieces Nicole and Danielle Graf, Renee Griep, nephew Randy Reichwald, and niece Rachel Reichwald.
Funeral rites were held March 10-11 in Wisconsin.

Burial was to be in St. Lawrence Friary Cemetery, Mt. Calvary, Wis. at a later date.