Carl August Klase Graf's Obituary
Carl August Klase Graf, age 71, of Mountain View, Hawaii, passed away April 8, 2026. Born the eighth of sixteen siblings, he grew up in a rural community outside Eugene, Oregon.
He joined the Boy Scouts, attended church, learned cooking and sewing in 4-H, took piano lessons, played trombone in a marching band, hunted, fished, and swam in lakes, ponds, and creeks. He caught crawdads, built go-carts, milked cows, rode horse back, bucked hay, and crabbed on the Oregon Coast. Logging festivals, powwows of the Pacific Northwest tribes, Scandinavian Festivals, Junior Symphonies, music and dance recitals, community and church events were typical family pastimes in his youth.
A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Carl and was an expert marksman, a motorcyclist, a traveler, an adventurer, a gardener, a skilled cook, a water skier, and a scuba diver, a man who could do just about anything he decided to do.
He moved to Hawaii in the 1970s and lived on the island of Maui for many years before moving to the Big Island.
He loved dogs and nearly always had at least one. His dogs were family to him and he adored every one he ever had. He didn't own them, they owned him!
He was always a hard worker who constantly added to his skills, qualifications, knowledge and experience; moving up from logging and mill work, to mechanic, to service tech, to journeyman carpenter, to project manager, to building inspector for the State of Hawaii.
His integrity and strong work ethics sometimes annoyed those lacking these qualities. He had a way with words that could cut straight to the point. He wasn't always popular but he was always respected.
Carl was a problem solver with an entrepreneurial mind and unique creative talent.
He designed and built the home he lived in for the past 3 decades. Thai Smiles food truck was another of his creations, a labor of love for his wife and daughters, who meant the world to him.
Family was very important to Carl. He spoke many times of how much his siblings and family meant to him.
He was married twice and dearly loved each of the women he married.
Carl loved Hawaii fiercely and it is because of him that two of his siblings were also able to make Hawaii their home.
He helped find and buy the land, then helped build the home on it for one of his brothers and family. He changed lives.
He could be stubborn, impatient, blunt, and hard to live with, but he was also tender-hearted, funny, generous, loyal, and caring.
Carl was a remarkable man.
We will never stop missing him.
A hui hou kakou
Aloha 'oe
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