After retiring, Mr. Vinzant rehabilitated several houses on Federal Hill and the Eastern Shore.
In 1996, Mr. Vinzant and his wife, the former Beverly Kessler, whom he married in 1979, purchased the popular Cross Street Cheese Co. in the Cross Street Market, which had been founded in the early 1980s by Edward L. Byer.
"We didn't know a damn thing about cheese when we bought the business but we learned," said Mrs. Vinzant, laughing. "We later added wine and changed its name to the Cross Street Cheese and Wine Co."
"Graham was a kind, charming and a generous gentleman," recalled Eddie Kelly, a longtime Federal Hill resident and neighborhood activist.
"I loved his pate and I think he had the best bread in Baltimore. I never went to his stall that I didn't leave without something a little extra in the bag," Mr. Kelly said.
Frank Starr, a retired newspaper editor who lives on Federal Hill, was another longtime customer and friend.
"He had a wonderful selection of wines, and I think he created a lot of business having the cheese and wines side by side," said Mr. Starr, who often sent Mr. Vinzant's gourmet cheese baskets to family members at Christmas.
Mr. Vinzant also enjoyed a rousing political discussion at times.
After selling the business in 2002, Mr. Vinzant, who lived on Warren Avenue, built and developed several homes on the Eastern Shore. He built a home in Denton and renovated a home on Tilghman Street in Oxford that had been destroyed in 2003 by Hurricane Isabel.
He was a member of Catonsville United Methodist Church.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Community College of Baltimore County at Catonsville, 800 S. Rolling Road.
Also surviving are a son, Mike Vinzant of Sparks; four daughters, Pat Lindh-Slack of Ellicott City, Meredith Howard of Mount Airy, Jeannie Vogel of Westminster, and LeAnn Batty of Fraser, Pa.; 13 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. His former wife, Dorothy M. Vollmerhausen, died last year.
