Craig Ulrici '61
It took Craig Ulrici '61 about 20 years to discover the secret benefactor behind his cherished years at Santa Clara University.
The memory of the revelation still makes him chuckle, but it also inspired the retired Central Valley rancher—and his late wife, Barbara—to help other students without financial means access SCU's world-class education.
For the eldest son of a teacher and a homemaker in Salinas, Craig would have been unable to attend without the help of an alum—his uncle.
Patrick Heffernan '38 was not only student body president, but a standout basketball player for the Broncos, and went on to a successful career in food processing.
Because his nephew couldn't afford SCU's $3,500 price tag, Patrick suggested Craig apply for a $1,000 annual scholarship.
"That was like asking for $30,000 in today's dollars," Craig says.
To his surprise, SCU offered $2,000—enough so his summer jobs could pay the balance as he studied marketing and established a group of lifelong friends. Among them was a Fresno County classmate whose family owned the country's largest cantaloupe farm, where Craig was later hired and began his agribusiness career.
A loving marriage and a chance to invest in his own ag land that he and a partner turned into an almond and pistachio ranch followed—as did success, something Craig always attributed to that serendipitous scholarship.
It wasn't until Patrick Heffernan's funeral in 1984 that Fr. Louis Bannan, S.J.—his uncle's friend and Craig's former dorm prefect—pulled him aside and divulged who had paid for his education.
"I should have known that from the get-go,'' says the 80-year-old retiree of his uncle's quiet gesture. "But that's the kind of guy he was."
The news ultimately led the Ulricis to establish a charitable gift annuity that helped to fund The Craig Ulrici and Barbara Deal Ulrici Endowed Scholarship Fund, reserved only for graduates of San Jose's Sacred Heart Nativity Schools.
"I appreciate the fact that people need help, and particularly the students who come from poor families," says Craig. "I don't think I would have been nearly as successful or reached the financial goals I have without my experience at SCU. I am very, very blessed."
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