Originally published at Southern Cross
SAN DIEGO — Deacon Albert Graff, a retired deacon of the Diocese of San Diego, died May 3 at the age of 105.
Born in Mandan, North Dakota, Albert Graff was 3 years old when his family relocated to California, settling first in Fresno and then in Los Angeles.
A product of Catholic primary and secondary education, he graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1942 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was hired by General Electric and moved to Schenectady, New York.
In 1947, he married his wife, Marion, who died in 2000. The couple had five children.
In 1958, the Graff family moved to Rancho Santa Fe, when he accepted a job with General Atomics.
In May of 1983, the month after he retired from General Atomics, he was ordained to the permanent diaconate. He served the St. James-St. Leo Catholic Community in Solana Beach, continuing in active ministry well into his 90s.
He found great joy in preaching and in outreach to the poor.
In the mid-1980s, he co-founded Esperanza International, a 501( c )3 nonprofit that constructs homes for poor families in Tijuana. He was also a strong supporter of Father Joe’s Villages.
Deacon Graff