Reva Mikles Graziadio, long-time friend and benefactor of Pepperdine University, died at her home in Rolling Hills on Jan. 8 after a brief illness. She was 87.
Graziado was born in Magazine, Ark. on May 17, 1922, and moved to Los Angeles during World War II where she met her husband, George. She created and funded a scholarship for female students at Pepperdine’s graduate business school and was a generous supporter of Pepperdine’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology, and other Pepperdine University programs and initiatives.
At California State University Long Beach, the couple established the George L. Graziadio Center for Italian Studies. Reva and George were also substantial contributors to numerous other regional and national organizations, including Torrance Memorial Medical Center Health Foundation where they underwrote the George and Reva Graziadio Radiology Center, Mountain Communities Hospital in Lake Arrowhead, the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation, Chapman University, UCLA, the Hugh O’Brian Youth Foundation and the YMCA, among others. In 2002, just prior to his passing, Reva and George celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary receiving the “Humanitarians of the Year Award” from the House Ear Institute.
Graziadio is survived by her daughter Mary Lou Area and her husband Jack Area of Houston, Texas; daughter Alida Calvillo and her husband Stevan Calvillo of Rolling Hills Estates; and son G. Louis Graziadio III and his wife Beth Graziadio of Palos Verdes Estates; nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Currently there are no services planed. The Graziadio family asks that gifts in memory of Reva Graziadio be made to Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management or the Torrance Memorial Home Health and Hospice. , the family requests donations be made to the Ocean Park Community Center.