William D. Graves, Jr. (Darrell), of Denton passed away on January 5th, 2016 in Denton, Texas. Darrell was born on May 23rd, 1922 in Ft. Worth Texas to William D. and Olive (Prestridge) Graves, Sr.

Darrell graduated in 1940 from Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas and attended Southern Methodist University before enlisting in the Army Air Forces in 1942. During WWII, Darrell served in the 494th Bombardment Group (Kelley's Kobras) in the Pacific Theatre as Staff Sgt. on B-24's as an Aerial Gunner. After the war, he enlisted in the Reserves and served as a flight engineer during the Korean War.
Darrell went on to have a long and successful career in the airline industry, including time spent in the early 1970's with the space shuttle program. The family lived in Dallas, Garden Grove, CA and Denver, CO during his career. Darrell and LaVerne returned to Denton in 2006. He enjoyed fishing, golf, boating and spending time with family and friends.

Darrell is survived by his son, William D. Graves, III (Janet) of Oriental, NC, two daughters, Charlotte Thompson of Golden, CO and Patti Sego (John) of Westminster, CO, three grandchildren, one great grandchild, four step grandchildren, and six step great grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his wife LaVerne (Salter), his sister Littie Grooms and nephew Gerald Grooms of Denton.

The family will receive friends from 10am–11am at DeBerry Funeral Directors on Friday, January 8th with a funeral service following at 11am in the Chapel of DeBerry Funeral Directors. There will be a private internment following the service.