Anne Grafft Stewart ’56
Anne Grafft Stewart followed in her brother’s footsteps by deciding to go to Cal and ended up starting a legacy of Cal alums in her family. Those initial steps belong to William D. Grafft ’51 M.A. ’59. “My husband’s son went to Cal. My granddaughter went to Cal. We have grandnieces and nephews who went to Cal. I guess Bill and I started something,” Anne says.
Anne says she just had a feeling that going to Cal would open doors for her, so she decided to apply and was thrilled when she was accepted.
“I was a girl from the tiny town of Sanger outside of Fresno, California,” Anne remembers. “Cal was a big place, and I was scared. I made a contract with God that I would try as hard as I could and prayed for support.”
Anne worked hard at Berkeley and graduated with a degree in political science. She has worked as a teacher and in commercial real estate as an appraiser. Anne and her husband, Albert, live in Los Gatos, California.
“Looking back, I realize how much a degree at Cal opened doors for me. It was harder for women to move forward professionally at the time,” Anne says. “I did work hard, but I know my success is partially because people saw I was a Cal graduate.”
“That’s why we must support Cal,” Anne continues. “If we don’t, education and our economy will suffer.”
