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Remembering Charlotte Sproul ’71, M.A. ’75 (1949–2017)

July 3, 2017
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imageCharlotte Sproul, a Cal alumna and beloved member of the UC Berkeley community, passed away on June 21, 2017.

Kris Jameyson, Senior Director of CAA’s Cal Discoveries Travel program, shared the following memory:

Charlotte Sproul was a member of the Cal Discoveries Travel Team since January of 2006. Prior to joining the Cal Alumni Association (CAA) staff, she served a partial term on the CAA Board of Directors. An active member of the Cal community, Charlotte graduated from Cal in 1971. Her indomitable spirit and positive attitude inspired the Cal Discoveries Travel team every day.

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Charlotte with Cal alumnus and NFL football player Marshawn Lynch in 2016.
During her time at Cal Discoveries Travel, Charlotte served as a tour manager on 25 trips. As a program manager, she launched and managed our London Theater program for eight years. An avid traveler herself, she brought the idea of travelers needing to have “patience and flexibility” during trips. We still write that phrase on every one of our final-details communications to travelers.

Her favorite story, illustrating her ability to move mountains for our travelers, was when she was in Egypt with a group at the time the Arab Spring revolution began in January of 2011. The trip was interrupted after its fourth day because of the uprising. Charlotte was at the airport for many hours with a group trying to get out. With no working internet or computers, she noticed a plane on the runway. As Charlotte does, she had made friends with the reservation agent, who then became the gate agent. She convinced him to allow her group to get on the plane flying to Germany simply because the plane had room. Due to her ability to see through the chaos, the group traveling with her got home safely and with much less wait time than many others.

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Charlotte with husband Bob Sproul in Egypt, 2011.

Donations can be made to The Cal Alumni Association Charlotte Sproul TAAP Scholarship, which honors Charlotte’s legacy.

A service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 15 at St. Stephen’s Church in Orinda. Read the obituary published in the San Francisco Chronicle.