LEXINGTON, Ky. – To honor their sons’ lives and legacies, retired U.S. Army Major Gen. Mark Graham and Carol Graham have partnered with the University of Kentucky College of Social Work’s Suicide Prevention and Exposure Lab (SPEL), the new home of the Jeffrey C. and Kevin A. Graham Memorial Fund.
Jeffrey and Kevin Graham were both UK students, Jeffrey a 2003 graduate and a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army, and Kevin a senior ROTC cadet, both poised for a bright future in the military, like their father.
Following a battle with depression, Kevin lost his life to suicide in June 2003. Less than a year later, in 2004, Jeffrey was overseas in Iraq where he was killed by a roadside bomb while leading a foot patrol.
Turning tragedy into purpose, the Jeffrey C. and Kevin A. Graham Memorial Fund was established in 2005 at the University of Kentucky to honor both of their sons and to support suicide prevention initiatives on UK’s campus, including Question, Persuade, Refer – a suicide prevention program meant to reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing innovative, practical and proven suicide prevention training.
“We established the fund to raise awareness and ensure that our sons’ loss had meaning and can help other people,” Major General Graham said. “We don’t want anyone else to go through what we went through with our son, Kevin, and die by suicide. That’s why the suicide prevention work is so important, to help prevent this from happening to anyone else.”
Now, 20 years later, that fund will support the work done by Dr. Julie Cerel at the SPEL Lab. A Professor in the UK College of Social Work and a licensed clinical psychologist, Cerel’s research focuses on suicide bereavement and exposure, and she is recognized as a leader in the field.
Cerel recently received the Norman Farberow Award for Bereavement and Lived Experience by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), recognizing her transformative research, which expands understanding of the impact of suicide on families, friends and entire communities.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to know Major General Graham and Mrs. Graham since I got to University of Kentucky in 2005,” Cerel said. “I am honored that the Jeffrey C. and Kevin A. Graham Memorial Fund will support the important work we are doing at the Suicide Prevention and Exposure Lab. A priority for this fund will be working on CODE RED, our universal safety planning initiative, to expand and ensure that everyone has a safety plan for their worst day.”
Developed by Cerel, CODE RED is being implemented in Kentucky through the Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Work — reaching middle and high schools across the state. More than 1,000 people have already created personalized safety plans. These plans are dynamic, evolving documents that participants are encouraged to reflect on and update over time.
Along with CODE RED, the Grahams’ story and the power of connection is a way to save lives as well, Cerel notes.
“When we think about impact, it’s not just research or data—it’s connection. The Grahams’ story connects people. It gives them the language. It moves them to act. And that’s how we start saving lives,” said Cerel.
For General and Mrs. Graham, the opportunity to work with Dr. Cerel and knowing through her work, countless lives will be saved, is a powerful way to honor Kevin and Jeffrey.
“Dr. Cerel and her team give us the research and tools, and we share the faces and hearts behind the numbers,” Carol Graham said. “We never expected to be doing this work, but we’ve seen how it can save lives. And as long as we can, we’ll keep going. For Kevin. For Jeffrey. And for every family who needs hope.”
To support the Jeffrey C. and Kevin A. Graham Memorial Fund, please visit the dedicated page on give.uky.edu. For more information on Cerel and her work, visit the Suicide Prevention and Exposure Lab website.
