James Martin Graham

James Martin Graham (February 10, 1956 – July 3, 1997) American Roman Catholic priest, founder of The Sts. Martin & James Respite in Waterbury, Connecticut and Director of the International Christian AIDS Network (ICAN). Early years Born in Lee, Massachusetts, Graham was the son of Nicholas F. Graham and Theresa Barenski Graham. As a child, he had a part-time job working for the painter Norman Rockwell, tidying up his studio. Graham's own grandmother was a cook for the artist and sat for a number of his paintings. He graduated from Lee High School in 1974 and received an associate degree in electrical technology from Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, NY, becoming a licensed electrician and starting his own business, James M. Graham Electrical Co., in Lee. In 1974, as a high school senior he won election to a seat on the Lee Town School Committee, becoming the youngest elected official in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Priesthood Father Graham attended St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield, Connecticut, and later received his bachelor's degree in 1982 and master's degree in 1985, both in theology, from St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland. He was ordained a priest on 11 May 1985 at St. Michael's Cathedral in Springfield, Massachusetts, by the Most Rev. Joseph Francis Maguire, then Bishop of Springfield. He served as assistant pastor at Our Lady of Sacred Heart in Springfield, and at St. Patrick's Church in Hadley, Massachusetts. During his time as a parish priest with the Diocese of Springfield, Father Graham also served as Chaplain to the Massachusetts State Police. AIDS Ministry In 1989, he won support of then Archbishop of Hartford, John Francis Whealon, to establish the Archdiocese's Office of AIDS Ministry (OAM), headquartered in the Farrington Building on the Green in Waterbury, the first in the nation set up with a Roman Catholic priest as its full-time director. He started with a $4,000 grant from the Archdiocese and raised funds through private donations, grants and bequests as the operation expanded. The goal was to provide housing and medical care for terminally ill persons with AIDS, as well as assisted living facilities for HIV-infected individuals who otherwise might live on the streets or be shuttled between hospitals as their disease progressed. It was at this time, when the ministry was just beginning, that CBS Sunday Morning did a feature story about Father Graham and his work.