THE GRAVEN AWARD

Dr. Stanley ’53 and Mavis ’55 Graven

Stan retired as professor of maternal child health and child development at the University of South Florida, while Mavis is a retired child developmental specialist. They devoted their vocations to healthy child development, and saw Wartburg College, given its collaborative faculty and interdisciplinary approach, as uniquely positioned to help students and faculty better understand, and contribute to, healthy child development through its programs in education, biology, social work, the social sciences, and religion.

A native of Greene, Stan was the son of Judge Henry and Helen Graven. He received his MD degree from the University of Iowa and while serving on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, did significant research into the state’s infant mortality. Within two years Graven’s findings and recommendations had improved Wisconsin’s infant death rate from 28^th highest in the U.S. to the third lowest in the country. Graven also did significant work in South Dakota, including the Native American population, and in Egypt, to improve the newborn death rates.

Mavis grew up in Pocahontas and earned a master’s degree in child development from the University of Missouri. She was an active partner in her husband’s work and was equally committed to helping parent, families, and communities, raise healthy children. As a student, she was a recognized member of Dr. Edwin  Liemohn’s Wartburg Choir.

Stan and Mavis, along with other members of the Graven family, celebrated lay vocation through the Judge Henry N. and Helen T. Graven Endowment. The fund makes possible a visit to Wartburg by significant persons who exemplify the profound influence committed Christians can have in the communities as an expression of their Christian vocation. The fund also provides for an award – in memory of Judge Henry N. and Helen T. Graven, to be annually to an outstanding layperson whose life is nurtured and guided by a strong sense of Christian calling and how is making a significant contribution to community, church, and society.

Judge Henry N. Graven was a man of impeccable legal judgment who had a distinguished law career spanning nearly half a century. His professional contributions to the church provide a lasting model for lay involvement. A 1921 graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, he practiced law in Green until he was named judge of the Iowa District Court in 1937. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him federal district judge in 1944, and he served in that capacity until 1961, when he became a senior federal judge.

He was instrumental in developing and motivating adoption of a planned retirement pension program for pastors, widows, and church workers in the American Lutheran Church. He was active in the church and as senior federal judge until his death in 1970.

Judge Graven and Helen T. David were married March 20, 1926, following Helen’s years as director of a residential girls’ school in India. She was a leader in the Greene community, including service as Campfire Girls leader and initiator of a preschool. Three sons – David, Stanley, and Lloyd – were born to the Gravens.

Helen served for 14 years on the Wartburg College Board of Regents, happily arguing positions that were not easily accepted at the time. In 1987, the Wartburg College Alumni Association honored her for her contributions to the college and to her community. After her husband’s death, she continued active service to the church and her community in Minneapolis until her death in 1995.