Albrecht, Al (1924-2008)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2008 Jul 7 p. 12

Birth date: 1924 Jan 22

text of obituary:

Goshen speech prof dies

By Goshen College staff

GOSHEN, Ind. — Al Albrecht, Goshen College professor emeritus of communication, died June 23 in the hospital after a lengthy illness. He was 84.

Albrecht taught at the college for 23 years, from 1964 to 1987.

Stuart Showalter, former professor of communication, said Albrecht was among faculty who founded the communication department at Goshen.

"He provided steady leadership for the department during a time of unprecedented enrollment growth and ferment in the field," Showalter said.

Albrecht received a bachelor's degree from Goshen College in 1950, a master's degree at Purdue University in 1958 and a doctorate at Indiana University in 1965.

Before coming to Goshen, he taught for four years at Indiana University and three years at the University of Vermont.

He chaired Goshen's communication department and was executive secretary for the Intercollegiate Peace Speech Association. He taught speech and parliamentary procedure in AFL-CIO leadership training institutes, United Steel Workers institutes and for local unions.

He was a member of the National Speech Communications Association, the Central States Speech Association and the Indiana State speech Association.

Duane Stoltzfus, communications department chair, had Albrecht as a professor in the late 1970s.

"My earliest memory of Al places him in the old Assembly Hall at Goshen College, leaning ever so slightly on the lectern, presiding over a class of nervous students, many of whom probably wished they could have tested out of speech," Stoltzfus said.

"But we couldn't, and we were lucky to have Al there as a smart, unflappable guide to public speaking."

Albrecht was the first president of Aux Chandelles (ADEC) in 1964. He was a former board member of Elcose Credit Union, Elkhart, and he co-founded the Pennsylvania Deitsch Society. He was a parliamentarian for many years for Mennonite General Assembly sessions.

Albrecht was born Jan. 22, 1924, in Middlebury.

He married Miriam Sutter in Hopedale, Ill. they had two children, Trish Yoder and Jamie Albrecht, both of Goshen, and four grandchildren.

Albrecht was a member of College Mennonite Church in Goshen.