Walter Graeme Bretall
April 4, 1932-July 3, 1932
Ketchum, ID
On Friday, July 3rd, 2026, just shy of his 94th birthday, Walter Graeme Bretall passed away peacefully in his home in Ketchum, Idaho. Born on July 4, 1932, in Hardisty, Alberta, the second son of Frank and Irene Bretall, Graeme was raised in Vancouver, BC, and Seattle, Washington. At Franklin High School in Seattle, he played clarinet in the marching band and a jazz band. He learned to ski at Milwaukee Ski Bowl and by his senior year he was a four-way competitor: Nordic, downhill, slalom, and jumping. He attended the University of Washington where he was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and the ROTC. After graduating from college in 1954, Graeme worked for a year in New York City with J.P. Morgan as an investment research analyst. He was drafted and elected to serve in the Navy as a seaman until 1957. He returned to Seattle, where he met his future wife, Norah Turnbull. They were married in 1960. While Graeme was working at the Pacific Northwest Company, he and Norah moved to Bellevue, Washington, and started their family.
Graeme and his family relocated to Menlo Park in 1969, where he was head of research for the Kidder Peabody Company in San Francisco. Graeme met his future business partner, Dave Harris, in 1970, and the beginning of Harris, Bretall, Sullivan and Smith was born. As a member of the Security Analysts of San Francisco and a Chartered Financial Analyst, Graeme and the firm managed both individual and corporate accounts and eventually pension funds. Graeme retired from the successful investment management company, which had grown to 85 employees, in 2002.
Graeme was passionate about all sports, especially tennis and skiing. For many years, Graeme could be found at Ladera Oaks Swim and Tennis Club and at Menlo Circus Club, playing tennis and cheering on his children as they swam. He and Norah bought property in Ketchum, Idaho, in 1988, where they built their family vacation home. They would drive from California with their dogs to enjoy winters and summers in Ketchum. In the summer, he was active playing tennis, and in the winter you would find him on Bald Mountain, skiing into his late 80s. He and Norah moved to Sun Valley full time in 2016.
Graeme loved music and was a longtime supporter of the San Francisco Symphony and the Sun Valley Music Festival. He continued to enjoy concerts at Sun Valley well into his retirement years. He and Norah loved to travel, especially with People-to-People Tennis, an organization founded under the Eisenhower Administration to encourage international goodwill through sports. They traveled to Europe, Asia, and India, playing tennis with members of local clubs and developing lasting friendships. While in California, they hosted international students from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Many of those relationships lasted throughout their lives.
Graeme is survived by his children, Karen (Steve) Bloomfield, Scott (Erin Gillett) Bretall, and Kristine Bretall. Known as "Wally" to his grandchildren, he will be dearly missed by Lucy, Fritz, Heather, and Michael. Graeme was preceded in death by his beloved wife of sixty years, Norah, in 2020. He was deeply grateful for his retirement in Sun Valley, where he enjoyed his routines surrounded by a natural landscape that held a special place in his heart.
A celebration will be held at the family home on Friday, August 21st, in Ketchum. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to The Advocates at theadvocatesorg.org or to The Hunger Coalition at thehungercoalition.org.