Mary Elizabeth Graff

Mary Elizabeth Graff

April 29, 1909 July 26, 2003

Mary Elizabeth Graff, a longtime member of the Bakersfield College faculty, passed away July 26, 2003, at Rosewood Retirement Center. She was 94 years old. She is survived by her daughter, Catherine Graff MacLaughlin and son-in-law, Douglas MacLaughlin of Riverside, CA; her granddaughter, Elizabeth MacLaughlin of San Francisco and her sister, Edith Follansbee of Pleasant Hill, CA.

She was born Mary Elizabeth Stice in Gillespie, Illinois, and raised in Denver, CO. She attended North High School in Denver and was the editor of its newspaper, The North Star. In 1929 she graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana, where she was a member of the Debate Team, was president of the Independent Women, and was elected to the National Honor Society. After graduation she taught for several years in the Denver Public Schools.

In 1935, she married Lanphere Brown Graff, whom she had known since they worked together on their high school newspaper. The couple moved first to Berkeley, California, and then, in 1937, to Bakersfield when her husband came to work in the Exploration Dept. of Standard Oil.

During World War II, Mrs. Graff substituted in the Bakersfield Schools, replacing men called to military service, eventually teaching at virtually every grade level.

Her association with Bakersfield College began in 1946 when the late Grace V. Bird sought her out to teach at the growing institution. She completed a Masters Degree at UCLA in 1953 and remained a member of the Bakersfield College English Department until her retirement in 1975. Mrs. Graff was a member of the International Teaching Honorary Delta Kappa Gamma. Mrs. Graff pursued several avocational interests, including music, western wildflowers, reading and travel. She and her husband contributed generously of their time and energy to the formation and growth of several local arts and nature conservation organizations. She had a keen interest in and appreciation for the lives of her friends and family. She will be well remembered by all of them, as well as by many appreciative former students.

By her own request there will be no public memorial. Those wishing to make a donation in her memory may do so to either The Sierra Club Foundation, 85 2nd Street, Suite 750, San Francisco, CA 94105 (please designate for the Kern Kaweah Chapter, or to Young Audiences of Kern County, P.O. Box 9983, Bakersfield, CA 93389, for arts performances in local schools.