Sherburne County Veterans Service Officer Gene Graff retired Friday after seven years with the county.

 

Graff, who grew up on a farm in Northfield, has served his country in one capacity or another since leaving the farm to join the Reserves at age 21.

 

He went fulltime with the National Guard in 1984 where he served for 20 years before retiring in 2004.

 

Shortly after, he applied for the Assistant Veterans Service Officer (VSO) in Stearns County along with more than 40 other candidate.

 

He got the job.

 

“Stearns County was looking for someone who was retired from the military because they have pretty good knowledge of veterans and working with regulations,” says Graff. “I was happy to get the position.”

 

In 2008, he applied for the Veterans Service Officer position at Sherburne County after then VSO Launette Labrie left because of medical issues.

 

“I heard there would be an opening in Sherburne County and I felt it would be a good opportunity for advancement,” says Graff. “I started on July 1, 2008 and I’ve been here ever since.”

 

Graff says he’s met a lot of veterans over the years, and the numbers have continued to increase.

 

“Our office sees about 275 to 300 people every month. It makes the days go by fast,” he says. “It’s very interesting meeting all the different people, hearing their stories and helping the navigate the VA benefit system.”

 

Graff was instrumental in getting the county’s Veterans Memorial built near the History Center in Becker.

 

A committee had been formed in 2006 to collect donations and make plans for the memorial. But when Labrie became ill, the project was put on the back burner.

In 2010, Graff says he was talking to the history center director and saw there was no flag on site.

 

“I said that’s not right. We don’t have a flag at a county building” so I approached our adminstration at the time and then I put a proposal together to raise the memorial issue again,” he says. “In 2010 we got it put together and it was dedicated in June, 2011.” 

 

Graff says there have been a lot of changes in Veterans Services in the time he has been there.

 

“It’s a lot more formalized than it was in 2004. We have a 40-hour course with a 100-point test. The state puts on training twice a year for accreditation,” he says. “We do a lot of training to keep updated on any changes because the VA is always changing -either the healthcare side or the benefit side.”

 

One big change occurred over the last two years when Veterans Services decided to switch over its database and try to help eliminate a backlog for services and benefits.

It changed Graff’s office too.

 

“The back room here  was full of paper files. Now we’ve taken all those files and scanned them in to our veterans information management system,” says Graff. “I can pull up any of the old files from my desk. In the not-to-distant future, we’re going to do all our submitting paperless.” 

 

Last year his office held a flu shot clinic at the Government Center for veterans. He also attends briefing events to various groups and nursing homes to talk about benefits and services. He says outreach is vital for veterans.

 

“We still have people who come here and say, I didn’t even know you were here,” he says.

 

But lots of veterans do know about the Veterans Service department, and Graff does his best to make sure he has time for everyone who needs benefits or services. That’s why he’s been getting to the office 30 minutes early every day.

 

“I like to come in early and take care of phone messages and emails. I like to get those out of the way and answered so when we open our office at 8 a.m.,  we’re ready to see customers,” he says. “It ensures we have dedicated time with our veterans.”

 

Since Friday was his last day, he won’t be arriving at the office at 7:30 a.m. anymore. Beginning Monday, he’ll have time to catch up on his “honeydo” list, then do some travelling with his wife and maybe some volunteering.

 

“I’ll miss the people here. It’s been a very rewarding job,” he says. “Now I’ll have to take things one day at a time.”

 

Bruce Price, who was Assistant VSO under Graff for the past few years, will be the county’s new VSO starting Monday.