A well-respected businessman and ardent charity supporter who made Penrith his home for 60 years has died at the age of 95.
Alexander Graham — known as Alec — was born in Gretna on 4th June, 1926, to parents Thomas and Helen Graham. One of 16 children, he spent his early years north of the border surrounded by a tight-knit family, attending Gretna High School.
Leaving school at the age of 14, Alec began his working life in a laundry. However, this didn’t last long as when he turned 17, he joined the King’s Own Scottish Borderers at the height of the Second World War.
Eventually being promoted to a Colour Sergeant, he served as a quarter master in Kenya and Italian Somaliland, spending time between Nairobi and Mogadishu.
After leaving the army, he trained as an electrician and worked in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Calderhall — the first nuclear power station in the world to produce electricity for domestic use.
He then worked for Great Universal stores using his skills as an electrician and got his first taste of sales. This position ignited a life-long passion for business, making him determined to own his own company.
In the early 1950s he decided to have an adventure with his future brother-in-law and flew his little Austin A40 car to Barcelona and toured the region. This sparked a lifelong love of travel which would eventually see him take all of his siblings on a cruise when he finally retired.
Following his marriage to Agnes Kirkpatrick in Annan, the newlyweds moved to Penrith where Alec bought Spencer and Armstrong, a grocer’s shop in William Street.
He quickly built up the business – adding a wholesale arm which he ran from the shop before expanding into the Tudor Warehouse in Brunswick Road.
Their first daughter Lesley Ann was born in 1963 followed by Pauline Helen in 1967 and finally Ian Alexander in 1970.
Alec was a charming and gentle man with a wicked sense of humour. As a well-connected businessman Alec was so popular in the town that his children used to joke that he knew what they’d done before even they did.
Due to his burgeoning business credentials Alec sat on the Penrith Chamber of Trade and Commerce, eventually becoming the organisation’s president. As well as business and travel his other passion was charity.
He was granted lifelong membership to the Freemasons and was also an active member in the town’s Round Table and the 41 Club.
Later, Alec would go to lead Penrith’s Poppy Appeal collection.
Marrying Peggy Barclay in 1992, the pair retired to enjoy extensive travel which included two world cruises, trip to China, South America and even driving Route 66.
The couple also liked to spend time at their apartment in Gran Canaria.
An active lover of the outdoors he could often be spotted on the tops of Blencathra and Helvellyn even into his 80s. This determination and physicality shone through after he had a stroke, when he defied doctors’ predictions and relearned to walk.
Alec is survived by his children, Lesley, Pauline and Ian and his grandchildren, Joshua, Oliver and Sophia.
