Gerald "Gerry" Ernest Albright,67, of Portage, Ind. went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Thursday, Mar. 1, 2012. Gerry has battled Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia (CMML) since Oct. 7, 2010, returning home from the hospital for the final six days of his life.
He was born Jun. 3, 1944 in Coldwater, to Rodney Laverne and Lois Una (Kinyon) Albright, who preceded him in death. Gerry was married to Sharyl (Walters) Albright on Father's Day, Jun. 18, 1967 at the Michigan State University Chapel in Lansing.
Gerry is survived by his wife, Sharyl Albright of Portage, Ind.; sons, Greg (Shelli) Albright of McCordsville, Ind. and Ken (Heather) Albright of Chesterton, Ind.; grandchildren, Jacob, Noah, Jonathan, David, Chloe and Aaron Albright; sister, Pam (Dave) Loudenslager of Allegan; sister in law, Lana (Jim) Foster of River Falls, Wis.; nieces, Kristen (Bill) Welling and Courtney Loudenslager; nephew, Jason Loudenslager; and cousins, Charles (Brenda) Albright, Marsha (Mike) Pierson, Scott Kinyon and Carol (Lavon) Miller.
Gerry graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Administration. During college, Gerry served an internship with NASA on the Gemini Program. After honeymooning around Lake Michigan in 1967, he began working for US Steel in Gary, Ind. He worked as an Industrial Engineer for US Steel for 40 years at plants in Gary, Ind., Waukegan, Ill., Joliet, Ill., Oil City, Pa. and went back to the Gary plant in 1981.
His primary areas of responsibility included maintenance and development of the hourly workers incentive payment systems for primary operations (Hot End), job descriptions and classifications for the entire plant, basic labor agreements regarding grievances, discipline, etc for five years. During the work stoppage of 1986, Gerry operated mobile equipment in the Coal Handling area, plant security gate control, and worked at 32 Battery with the Coke Battery and Coal Charging crews.
Gerry was a veteran of the US Army, serving during the Vietnam War. He attended Grace Church of the Nazarene. He attended two weekly Bible study groups, one in Portage and an early morning men's group in Gary. He also participated in prison Sunday School ministry and worldwide missions, especially providing clean water and standing in the gap for children in need.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, Mar. 7, 2012 at 10 a.m. at Grace Church of the Nazarene, 5360 Clem Rd., Portage, IN with Pastor Mark Hostetler officiating. Burial will follow at Heritage Cemetery, Portage, IN. Visitation will be held Tuesday, Mar. 6, 2012 from 2 to 7 p.m. at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are preferred to Every Child Ministries, PO Box 810, Hebron, IN 46341. Arrangements by Edmonds & Evans Funeral Home Portage Chapel, 6941 Central Ave., Portage, IN.
Online condolences to the family may be left at www.EE-FH.com.
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