June 28, 1979—June 27, 2024 Anne Elizabeth (Valbracht) Fine gold passed away peacefully on June 27, 2024. Funeral and burial services for Anne were held on July 7, 2024, at Herzl Memorial Park in Seattle, Wash. A Celebration of Life will be held in Des Moines, Iowa, at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates on September 15, 2024, from 11:30 a.
m. to 3 p.m.
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 28, 1979, to Stephen Valbracht and Deborah (Smith) Rinner, Anne began early education in Bettendorf, Iowa, attending Rivermont Collegiate and Mark Twain Elementary. Her family moved from Bettendorf to Newton, Iowa, in 1986. During her childhood, Anne filled her home with the sounds of cello, piano, and her beautiful soprano voice.
She attended Newton High School, participating in the school's music and drama programs and as a cheerleader and flag girl in the marching band. Anne was recognized by the National Honors Society and graduated in 1997. After graduating from high school, Anne pursued a major in East Asian Studies at New York University (NYU).
From age nine, she was fascinated with Chinese language and culture and spent six consecutive summers in daily classes learning to speak, read, and write in Mandarin. She became fluent and spent her junior year of college studying abroad in Nanjing, China and conducting field research with minority cultures, notably the matrilineal Mosuo tribe, in remote provinces of mainland China. Anne graduated from NYU in 2001 and embarked on a graduate p.