Dr. Ronald Daniel Graber

Dr. Ronald Daniel Graber, beloved husband, father, and surgeon, died at his home in Goshen, Indiana on October 4, 2025.

Born in India on May 29, 1930 to missionary parents J. D. Graber and Minnie Swartzendruber Graber, Ronald moved with his parents and sister Eleanor to the United States in 1942. He attended Hesston College, where he courted Esther Rose Buckwalter, then continued his studies at Goshen College in Indiana. After he and Esther Rose married in 1952 they moved to Chicago for Ronald to attend medical school at Northwestern University. In Chicago they lived in community with Spanish-speaking members of the Chicago Mennonite Mexican Mission and assisted in that congregation.

The couple went to Little Rock, Arkansas for Ronald’s one-year medical internship. The family—now including daughters Jane and Ellen—then moved to an isolated village in the Pribilof Islands of Alaska for Dr. Graber to complete two years of alternative service (1-W) as physician to indigenous people. Twin daughters Sibyl and Ann were born there. The Public Health Service arranged for another physician to temporarily be on hand for the delivery, but that doctor was out hunting seals when the babies arrived, so their father was the attending physician. Because delivery was fraught, Dr. Graber needed to improvise an incubator for one of the newborns in their St. George Island home.

For Dr. Graber’s residencies in general surgery, the family returned to Chicago for several years. Daughter Susan was born in Chicago, then in 1965 the family moved to Puerto Rico. For the next three decades Dr. Graber was Chief of Surgery at Hospital Menonita as it evolved from a humble rural clinic to a modern hospital in Aibonito. Steven, Ronald and Esther’s youngest child and only son, was born in Puerto Rico.

Dr. Graber became known throughout Puerto Rico as a gifted surgeon. He often operated on patients who had little or no financial means and sometimes received payment in the form of traditional food. The family belonged to Aibonito Mennonite Church, where Esther Rose regularly played piano. The Grabers were strong supporters of both Aibonito Mennonite Church and Academia Menonita Betania, which all their children attended.

Dr. Graber was named “Son of Aibonito” by the municipality in 1981. He and Esther Rose together received Goshen College’s prestigious “Culture for Service” award in 2003. Although honored in such ways, Dr. Graber never called attention to himself. Once while in medical school he was among students named for an academic award. Typical of his lifelong modesty, he went to his weekly basketball game with neighborhood lads instead of attending the awards ceremony.

Family outings to the beach were a favorite activity in Puerto Rico. Over the decades, the Grabers owned a fishing boat or a sailboat for weekend outings. Both in Puerto Rico and after retirement to Nashville, Indiana in 1999, Ronald built extensive layouts for his garden-gauge model train. He once used this train on the Thanksgiving dinner table as a delivery system for rolls and side dishes. With the precision of a surgeon’s hand, he crafted dozens of museum-quality pieces of miniature furniture to showcase daughter Jane’s miniature pottery. Over the years Dr. Graber also volunteered for intensive surgery mission trips to Haiti, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Nepal.

The Grabers moved to Goshen, Indiana in 2013 where they loved to host family and friends and where they became active participants at Waterford Mennonite Church. Listening to calls of blue herons and sandhill cranes and watching swans from a pontoon boat on the Goshen Dam Pond were among their greatest pleasures.

Dr. Graber is survived by his wife Esther Rose; by his sister Eleanor (Alan Kreider, deceased) of Goshen and their son Andrew Kreider of Elkhart; by children Jane (Scott Davis) of Frankfort, Michigan, Ellen (Nelson Kraybill) of Elkhart, Sibyl (Winston Gerig) of Goshen, Ann (Keith Graber Miller) of Goshen, Susan (Mike Hunsberger) of Havelock North, New Zealand, and Steven (Yvonne) of Scottsdale, Arizona; grandchildren Laura Kraybill of Evanston, Illinois, Hannah Gerig Meyer (Jonny) of Goshen, Adrienne Gerig-Heyerly (Jesse) of Salem, Oregon, Andrea Kraybill of South Pasadena, California, Emma Gerig of Salem, Oregon, Niles Graber Alvarez (Corine) of Goshen, Evelyn Hunsberger of Auckland, New Zealand, Jacob Graber (Alena Walker) of Scottsdale, Arizona, Sarah Graber (Philip Norton) of Salt Lake City, Utah, Maddie Gerig Shelly (Ben) of Oak Park, Illinois, Mia Graber Miller (Katzxia Moua) of Oceanside, California, and Simon Graber Miller of Harrisonburg, Virginia; and five great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will take place at Waterford Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana on November 8, with Pastor Deron Bergstresser officiating. Visitation will be 9 to 10:30 a.m. and the memorial service will be at 11 a.m., followed by a light lunch for all. Those unable to attend in person may livestream the service by going to waterfordchurch.org and clicking on Live Stream. Memorial gifts are welcome to Mennonite Mission Network; https://www.mennonitemission.net/ .