Dick Graves was born and raised in Chillicothe, Missouri. When Dick was young his father, John L. Graves, established Graves Meats in 1947 and quickly became known for the quality of his meats and superiority of his customer service. In 1951 John started cutting portion controlled steaks and beef patties under the Mr. G’s Quality Cut Meats label, which we still sell today.
Dick graduated from Chillicothe High School in 1958 and started college soon after. He attained his Bachelors in Business Marketing from Michigan State in 1962. He then returned home to the University of Missouri where he earned his Master’s in Business Management in 1964. The four years following his graduation he worked in the Sales Department of Graves Meats. In 1968 he moved to Jefferson City, Missouri and founded Graves Menu Maker Foods as a reputable broadline food distributor.
In 1980 Dick and Tracy were married and had their first child, Jon Calvin Graves. Over the next decade they had five children, four boys and one girl. During the 80’s and 90’s Tracy spent her time raising the children while Dick spent his time expanding Graves Menu Maker Foods. Dick and Tracy became quite the team.
In 2006 Tracy became more involved with Graves Menu Maker Foods and continued to stress the importance of its values, #1 in customer service and building long-term partnerships with customers. In 2008 in order to service our customers better in Eastern Oklahoma, Western Arkansas, and Southern Kansas, Graves Menu Maker Foods opened a new full service warehouse in Vinita, Oklahoma.