Bill was born in Caneyville, Ky. on Feb. 18. 1933. He lived with his 2 brothers (Bob and Jim), mother, father and grandparents. He attended grade school and one of his teachers was a Miss Green in 1939. At the age of 7 years in 1940 they moved to Louisville. Ky. There he went to elementary school and graduated from Western Junior High School June 8th 1949. He was in the 9A-M home room. One of his class mates still remembers him and all the fun they all had. He attended Jefferson Street Baptist church and was presented a Bible by his Sunday school teacher on 08/15/48. He attended Louisville Male High school and was in the Male Band. The band performed at concerts and took trips to Florida and band camps in 1949 to 1951. He had his front tooth knocked out by a golf ball on one trip to Florida and had to have an implant.
In late 1949 or early 1950 the family bought a house and moved on River Park Drive. There he met Sally Lich and they started dating. After school he worked at Blue Bird Pie Bakery and worked for a company called "Our Own Delivery" (the first of UPS) during 1949 and 1951. One time he mowed a lady's yard to work for a little Cocker Puppy. This was the first Queenie. The first car he bought was a 1941 Nash and he was proud of the car. A lot of the time it did not run and he would be in the garage working to get it fixed. One time he had it all put back together and the part was on backward so he started all over again.
On March 19th 1951 he joined the Army and left for basic training at Ft. Eustis, VA. He completed basic on June 18th, 1951 and was to leave for a tour of duty in Korea. Bill bought an engagement ring for Sally while he was at Ft. Eustis (Aug. 3,
1951) before he came home on leave. Bill and Sally became engaged during the time after he came home. He left for Korea by train to Seattle, W A. in August of 1951. The company was put on a ship called The US Naval Marine Phoenix on 8/31/51 to sail across the Pacific Ocean with thousands of soldiers bound for Japan. It was a long trip and Bill said the ship would lean over on one side until the waves would touch the top deck and then the ship would lean the other way. He said there was nothing to do except play cards and stand in long lines for chow. By the time you got finished with one meal it was time to line up for the next meal. They would wind down the steps from deck to deck and wait to get in to eat. They gave them coffee 3 times a day with no cream or sugar .
He arrived in Japan Sept. 1951 and was transported to Korea. At first he was just a few miles back from the front line, but soon they needed a typist and person to send supplies to the front, so he was sent to Pusan. He drove a jeep to take the Captain places and took the supplies to a train to be shipped back to the company at the front line. One time while trying to load a train he dropped a large bottle (about 4 ft tall) made of steel on his hand and it swelled up to 3 times the size it was supposed to be. He wrote many letters home and was waiting to get his points to rotate back to his unit and come home. He made the rank of Corporal during that time. He always said he would never go back to Korea again as to him it was a cold, dirty and awful place.
He came back to the US on another big ship and then took a train to Kentucky. He finally arrived home in September 1952 and both Bill and Sally were very happy. On September 19th, 1952, Bill and Sally were married by Dr. E. F. Estes at West Broadway Baptist Church. They went on their honeymoon to Cumberland Falls
Park. His brother Bob had just bought a Chrysler and let them take this car to drive there. After driving there (there were no expressways back then) they arrived and pulled up to the Lodge and the brakes on the car went out. They were in the mountains and there were no gas stations there. The next day they coasted down the mountain with just the emergency brake to stop them to a gas station near Corbin, KY. There they were able to get the brakes fixed and go back to the Lodge. They cut the honeymoon short as they had very little money left and drove to Central City, KY., where Bill's parents met them. They arrive with one dime between them and then started home.
Bill was hoping to go to Ft. Knox for the rest of his service, however it was not to be. He was home less than a month and then was transferred to Ft. Lee, VA. Sally planned to stay at home and work as she was employed by Bell South and had a pretty good job. After a few weeks of being alone, both Bill and Sally decided she was to come there with him to live. They were very happy to be together and although had little money, life was good. All of 1953 they were together in VA and made several trips to visit their parents in Kentucky. Towards the end of the year, Bill had orders to be shipped to another base out west. He only had a few months left before he was to be discharged ftom the service. Bill's parents came to VA., to bring Sally back home along with 2 small dogs they had called PeeWee and Joanie. Before they had gotten very far out his orders had been changed and he did not have to go anywhere else. There were no cell phones in those days and he could not tell them to come back. However, they decided that Sally would stay home and get an apartment for when Bill was discharged to come home. She was able to get back on at the telephone company and settled down to wait for Bill. After several months they were missing each other and one weekend he told her to fly up to visit him in V A. She did and that was her first time to fly in an airplane. As she was getting on the plane her mother noticed there were no other passengers getting on the plane. Sally was so excited she did not care that there was only the pilot, co-pilot and a steward flying with her. They let her go into the cockpit as they were approaching Richmond, VA., so she could see the lights of the city. She arrived and Bill met her at the airport in a chauffeured limousine. They enjoyed themselves and Bill did not want her to leave. She stayed an extra day and was almost fired ftom her job because she did not have the time off.
Bill finally was discharged ftom the service on March 18th, 1954 and came home to look for a job. The first job he got was working at a cigarette factory and then his Uncle Curtis got him on as a carpenter building houses in Shively. Sally got pregnant with Cathy Sue and she was born Jan, 18th 1955. They had to move to another apartment on the first floor when she was pregnant as they were living in one on the third floor and the steps were too much for Sally to climb. Both apartments were on River Park Drive across from their parents. Things were going well and after Cathy was born in a few months later, Sally went back to work. They did not have daycare back then and Sally's mother Grace Lich kept her at her home. Bill would come get Cathy after work, when she was old enough to stand alone, and they would go to pick up Sally from her work. They had no seat belts or car seats back then and Cathy would stand in the front seat next to Bill and he would put his arm in front of her to brace her and keep her from falling. In December 1955, Bill was Baptized at West Broadway Baptist Church.
Bill was soon hired at Ford Motor Company and they saved up $500 to put a down payment on a house on Greenwood Road in Pleasure Ridge Park. Ford Motor Co. in 1957 and 1958 had a lot of strikes and would have lay offs. It was difficult for the
family to keep the bills paid, but they managed to do so. Things were going well and Sally was going to have another baby. On June 10th 1958 Terri Lea arrived and the family was growing. One day in 1961 Bill bought his first old car which was a 1941 Plymouth Coupe. He said it was to drive back and forth to work, but it did not work out that way. Bill soon learned to lay stone and with another friend, who was laid off, they started getting some houses to put Bedford Stone on them. It was good working for him self and Bill hired some workers and started laying stone full time. On March 19th 1960, William II arrived and now there were 3 children. Bill started to contract out new houses to be built and put them up for sale. Things were plentiful in the 1960's and money was easy to borrow. On June 9th 1963 Sally Ann was born and there were 4 children. The house was getting too small for all of them, so Bill decided they would build a larger house.
-
They thought they had enough room in the new house for everything. Sally got to pick out all the fixtures and decorate and it was fun. On Halloween 1967 they moved in and were happy with the new house. In about 1965 Bill started repairing old clocks that his mother had bought. He then got interested in buying antique clocks
and acquired many of them. Bill's work continued to be good, but Bill was working long hours and very tired. All though the rest of the 1960's and early 1970's Bill worked with stone and then started laying brick on buildings. Some time in the late 1970's he decided things were not going well with having people working for you so he quit working for himself and he went to work for another company. He was working out of town in the eastern part of the state and came home on weekends. He was a foreman and ran the jobs with people working under him. His breathing was getting worse from all the stone dust and smoking and he was tired a lot.
He worked until about 1992 and then decided to retire. About 1997 he got interested in turning the 1941 Plymouth into a street rod. That started his interest in the old cars. He restored a 1931 Ford, Model A 2 door sedan, started working on a 1929 Ford, 4 door, completed 2, 1933 4 door Dodge Broughams to mint condition and bought a 1932 Plymouth Roaster and a 1934 Dodge, 4 door sedan. Sally and Bill would travel to different states with the cars and they met a lot of nice people who are dear friends to this day. Bill and Sally enjoyed these years and their trips together. In Nov. of 2007 Bill and Sally flew to Baltimore to look at a 1934 Dodge 4 door convertible that had to be restored. He bought it and was going to start right away to replace it with new parts. That month his back started bothering him and he went to get an MRI. They found a tumor on his spine and cancer that had spread to his spine. After surgery and much treatment he was not recovering and he passed away 02/22/08.
Bill could always fix, repair or build anything that came his way. He would help anyone that needed to be helped. He taught all his family and others to do the things that he could do and the legend will be passed on through the years.
**************************************
ALBRO, WILLIAM E. "BILL," 75, of Louisville, passed away Friday, February 22, 2008, at Park Terrace. He had retired as a foreman from River City Development Co. and was also a retired brick and stone mason. He was a member of Beechland Baptist Church, a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War, a member of the Shawnee Masonic Lodge # 830 F&AM, Fortitude Lodge #47, the Scottish Rite and the Kosair Shrine Temple. He was an avid restorer of antique cars and a member of the NSRA and the Plymouth Club. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lee and Dollie Albro; and his brothers, Robert and James Albro. He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Sarah "Sally Mae" Albro; his children, Cathy Mattingly (Robert), Terri Laird (Geary), William Albro II (Yvonne) and Sally Fowler (Michael); 10 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and many nephews, nieces, cousins and friends. His funeral service will be held noon Tuesday at the Heady-Hardy Funeral Home, 7710 Dixie Hwy., with burial to follow at the Bethany Memorial Cemetery. Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Monday and after 9 a.m. Tuesday. Memorial contributions may be made to Beechland Baptist Church or the Shawnee Foundation.
In late 1949 or early 1950 the family bought a house and moved on River Park Drive. There he met Sally Lich and they started dating. After school he worked at Blue Bird Pie Bakery and worked for a company called "Our Own Delivery" (the first of UPS) during 1949 and 1951. One time he mowed a lady's yard to work for a little Cocker Puppy. This was the first Queenie. The first car he bought was a 1941 Nash and he was proud of the car. A lot of the time it did not run and he would be in the garage working to get it fixed. One time he had it all put back together and the part was on backward so he started all over again.
On March 19th 1951 he joined the Army and left for basic training at Ft. Eustis, VA. He completed basic on June 18th, 1951 and was to leave for a tour of duty in Korea. Bill bought an engagement ring for Sally while he was at Ft. Eustis (Aug. 3,
1951) before he came home on leave. Bill and Sally became engaged during the time after he came home. He left for Korea by train to Seattle, W A. in August of 1951. The company was put on a ship called The US Naval Marine Phoenix on 8/31/51 to sail across the Pacific Ocean with thousands of soldiers bound for Japan. It was a long trip and Bill said the ship would lean over on one side until the waves would touch the top deck and then the ship would lean the other way. He said there was nothing to do except play cards and stand in long lines for chow. By the time you got finished with one meal it was time to line up for the next meal. They would wind down the steps from deck to deck and wait to get in to eat. They gave them coffee 3 times a day with no cream or sugar .
He arrived in Japan Sept. 1951 and was transported to Korea. At first he was just a few miles back from the front line, but soon they needed a typist and person to send supplies to the front, so he was sent to Pusan. He drove a jeep to take the Captain places and took the supplies to a train to be shipped back to the company at the front line. One time while trying to load a train he dropped a large bottle (about 4 ft tall) made of steel on his hand and it swelled up to 3 times the size it was supposed to be. He wrote many letters home and was waiting to get his points to rotate back to his unit and come home. He made the rank of Corporal during that time. He always said he would never go back to Korea again as to him it was a cold, dirty and awful place.
He came back to the US on another big ship and then took a train to Kentucky. He finally arrived home in September 1952 and both Bill and Sally were very happy. On September 19th, 1952, Bill and Sally were married by Dr. E. F. Estes at West Broadway Baptist Church. They went on their honeymoon to Cumberland Falls
Park. His brother Bob had just bought a Chrysler and let them take this car to drive there. After driving there (there were no expressways back then) they arrived and pulled up to the Lodge and the brakes on the car went out. They were in the mountains and there were no gas stations there. The next day they coasted down the mountain with just the emergency brake to stop them to a gas station near Corbin, KY. There they were able to get the brakes fixed and go back to the Lodge. They cut the honeymoon short as they had very little money left and drove to Central City, KY., where Bill's parents met them. They arrive with one dime between them and then started home.
Bill was hoping to go to Ft. Knox for the rest of his service, however it was not to be. He was home less than a month and then was transferred to Ft. Lee, VA. Sally planned to stay at home and work as she was employed by Bell South and had a pretty good job. After a few weeks of being alone, both Bill and Sally decided she was to come there with him to live. They were very happy to be together and although had little money, life was good. All of 1953 they were together in VA and made several trips to visit their parents in Kentucky. Towards the end of the year, Bill had orders to be shipped to another base out west. He only had a few months left before he was to be discharged ftom the service. Bill's parents came to VA., to bring Sally back home along with 2 small dogs they had called PeeWee and Joanie. Before they had gotten very far out his orders had been changed and he did not have to go anywhere else. There were no cell phones in those days and he could not tell them to come back. However, they decided that Sally would stay home and get an apartment for when Bill was discharged to come home. She was able to get back on at the telephone company and settled down to wait for Bill. After several months they were missing each other and one weekend he told her to fly up to visit him in V A. She did and that was her first time to fly in an airplane. As she was getting on the plane her mother noticed there were no other passengers getting on the plane. Sally was so excited she did not care that there was only the pilot, co-pilot and a steward flying with her. They let her go into the cockpit as they were approaching Richmond, VA., so she could see the lights of the city. She arrived and Bill met her at the airport in a chauffeured limousine. They enjoyed themselves and Bill did not want her to leave. She stayed an extra day and was almost fired ftom her job because she did not have the time off.
Bill finally was discharged ftom the service on March 18th, 1954 and came home to look for a job. The first job he got was working at a cigarette factory and then his Uncle Curtis got him on as a carpenter building houses in Shively. Sally got pregnant with Cathy Sue and she was born Jan, 18th 1955. They had to move to another apartment on the first floor when she was pregnant as they were living in one on the third floor and the steps were too much for Sally to climb. Both apartments were on River Park Drive across from their parents. Things were going well and after Cathy was born in a few months later, Sally went back to work. They did not have daycare back then and Sally's mother Grace Lich kept her at her home. Bill would come get Cathy after work, when she was old enough to stand alone, and they would go to pick up Sally from her work. They had no seat belts or car seats back then and Cathy would stand in the front seat next to Bill and he would put his arm in front of her to brace her and keep her from falling. In December 1955, Bill was Baptized at West Broadway Baptist Church.
Bill was soon hired at Ford Motor Company and they saved up $500 to put a down payment on a house on Greenwood Road in Pleasure Ridge Park. Ford Motor Co. in 1957 and 1958 had a lot of strikes and would have lay offs. It was difficult for the
family to keep the bills paid, but they managed to do so. Things were going well and Sally was going to have another baby. On June 10th 1958 Terri Lea arrived and the family was growing. One day in 1961 Bill bought his first old car which was a 1941 Plymouth Coupe. He said it was to drive back and forth to work, but it did not work out that way. Bill soon learned to lay stone and with another friend, who was laid off, they started getting some houses to put Bedford Stone on them. It was good working for him self and Bill hired some workers and started laying stone full time. On March 19th 1960, William II arrived and now there were 3 children. Bill started to contract out new houses to be built and put them up for sale. Things were plentiful in the 1960's and money was easy to borrow. On June 9th 1963 Sally Ann was born and there were 4 children. The house was getting too small for all of them, so Bill decided they would build a larger house.
-
They thought they had enough room in the new house for everything. Sally got to pick out all the fixtures and decorate and it was fun. On Halloween 1967 they moved in and were happy with the new house. In about 1965 Bill started repairing old clocks that his mother had bought. He then got interested in buying antique clocks
and acquired many of them. Bill's work continued to be good, but Bill was working long hours and very tired. All though the rest of the 1960's and early 1970's Bill worked with stone and then started laying brick on buildings. Some time in the late 1970's he decided things were not going well with having people working for you so he quit working for himself and he went to work for another company. He was working out of town in the eastern part of the state and came home on weekends. He was a foreman and ran the jobs with people working under him. His breathing was getting worse from all the stone dust and smoking and he was tired a lot.
He worked until about 1992 and then decided to retire. About 1997 he got interested in turning the 1941 Plymouth into a street rod. That started his interest in the old cars. He restored a 1931 Ford, Model A 2 door sedan, started working on a 1929 Ford, 4 door, completed 2, 1933 4 door Dodge Broughams to mint condition and bought a 1932 Plymouth Roaster and a 1934 Dodge, 4 door sedan. Sally and Bill would travel to different states with the cars and they met a lot of nice people who are dear friends to this day. Bill and Sally enjoyed these years and their trips together. In Nov. of 2007 Bill and Sally flew to Baltimore to look at a 1934 Dodge 4 door convertible that had to be restored. He bought it and was going to start right away to replace it with new parts. That month his back started bothering him and he went to get an MRI. They found a tumor on his spine and cancer that had spread to his spine. After surgery and much treatment he was not recovering and he passed away 02/22/08.
Bill could always fix, repair or build anything that came his way. He would help anyone that needed to be helped. He taught all his family and others to do the things that he could do and the legend will be passed on through the years.
**************************************
ALBRO, WILLIAM E. "BILL," 75, of Louisville, passed away Friday, February 22, 2008, at Park Terrace. He had retired as a foreman from River City Development Co. and was also a retired brick and stone mason. He was a member of Beechland Baptist Church, a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War, a member of the Shawnee Masonic Lodge # 830 F&AM, Fortitude Lodge #47, the Scottish Rite and the Kosair Shrine Temple. He was an avid restorer of antique cars and a member of the NSRA and the Plymouth Club. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lee and Dollie Albro; and his brothers, Robert and James Albro. He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Sarah "Sally Mae" Albro; his children, Cathy Mattingly (Robert), Terri Laird (Geary), William Albro II (Yvonne) and Sally Fowler (Michael); 10 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and many nephews, nieces, cousins and friends. His funeral service will be held noon Tuesday at the Heady-Hardy Funeral Home, 7710 Dixie Hwy., with burial to follow at the Bethany Memorial Cemetery. Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Monday and after 9 a.m. Tuesday. Memorial contributions may be made to Beechland Baptist Church or the Shawnee Foundation.
Bill was born in Caneyville, Ky. on Feb. 18. 1933. He lived with his 2 brothers (Bob and Jim), mother, father and grandparents. He attended grade school and one of his teachers was a Miss Green in 1939. At the age of 7 years in 1940 they moved to Louisville. Ky. There he went to elementary school and graduated from Western Junior High School June 8th 1949. He was in the 9A-M home room. One of his class mates still remembers him and all the fun they all had. He attended Jefferson Street Baptist church and was presented a Bible by his Sunday school teacher on 08/15/48. He attended Louisville Male High school and was in the Male Band. The band performed at concerts and took trips to Florida and band camps in 1949 to 1951. He had his front tooth knocked out by a golf ball on one trip to Florida and had to have an implant.
In late 1949 or early 1950 the family bought a house and moved on River Park Drive. There he met Sally Lich and they started dating. After school he worked at Blue Bird Pie Bakery and worked for a company called "Our Own Delivery" (the first of UPS) during 1949 and 1951. One time he mowed a lady's yard to work for a little Cocker Puppy. This was the first Queenie. The first car he bought was a 1941 Nash and he was proud of the car. A lot of the time it did not run and he would be in the garage working to get it fixed. One time he had it all put back together and the part was on backward so he started all over again.
On March 19th 1951 he joined the Army and left for basic training at Ft. Eustis, VA. He completed basic on June 18th, 1951 and was to leave for a tour of duty in Korea. Bill bought an engagement ring for Sally while he was at Ft. Eustis (Aug. 3,
1951) before he came home on leave. Bill and Sally became engaged during the time after he came home. He left for Korea by train to Seattle, W A. in August of 1951. The company was put on a ship called The US Naval Marine Phoenix on 8/31/51 to sail across the Pacific Ocean with thousands of soldiers bound for Japan. It was a long trip and Bill said the ship would lean over on one side until the waves would touch the top deck and then the ship would lean the other way. He said there was nothing to do except play cards and stand in long lines for chow. By the time you got finished with one meal it was time to line up for the next meal. They would wind down the steps from deck to deck and wait to get in to eat. They gave them coffee 3 times a day with no cream or sugar .
He arrived in Japan Sept. 1951 and was transported to Korea. At first he was just a few miles back from the front line, but soon they needed a typist and person to send supplies to the front, so he was sent to Pusan. He drove a jeep to take the Captain places and took the supplies to a train to be shipped back to the company at the front line. One time while trying to load a train he dropped a large bottle (about 4 ft tall) made of steel on his hand and it swelled up to 3 times the size it was supposed to be. He wrote many letters home and was waiting to get his points to rotate back to his unit and come home. He made the rank of Corporal during that time. He always said he would never go back to Korea again as to him it was a cold, dirty and awful place.
He came back to the US on another big ship and then took a train to Kentucky. He finally arrived home in September 1952 and both Bill and Sally were very happy. On September 19th, 1952, Bill and Sally were married by Dr. E. F. Estes at West Broadway Baptist Church. They went on their honeymoon to Cumberland Falls
Park. His brother Bob had just bought a Chrysler and let them take this car to drive there. After driving there (there were no expressways back then) they arrived and pulled up to the Lodge and the brakes on the car went out. They were in the mountains and there were no gas stations there. The next day they coasted down the mountain with just the emergency brake to stop them to a gas station near Corbin, KY. There they were able to get the brakes fixed and go back to the Lodge. They cut the honeymoon short as they had very little money left and drove to Central City, KY., where Bill's parents met them. They arrive with one dime between them and then started home.
Bill was hoping to go to Ft. Knox for the rest of his service, however it was not to be. He was home less than a month and then was transferred to Ft. Lee, VA. Sally planned to stay at home and work as she was employed by Bell South and had a pretty good job. After a few weeks of being alone, both Bill and Sally decided she was to come there with him to live. They were very happy to be together and although had little money, life was good. All of 1953 they were together in VA and made several trips to visit their parents in Kentucky. Towards the end of the year, Bill had orders to be shipped to another base out west. He only had a few months left before he was to be discharged ftom the service. Bill's parents came to VA., to bring Sally back home along with 2 small dogs they had called PeeWee and Joanie. Before they had gotten very far out his orders had been changed and he did not have to go anywhere else. There were no cell phones in those days and he could not tell them to come back. However, they decided that Sally would stay home and get an apartment for when Bill was discharged to come home. She was able to get back on at the telephone company and settled down to wait for Bill. After several months they were missing each other and one weekend he told her to fly up to visit him in V A. She did and that was her first time to fly in an airplane. As she was getting on the plane her mother noticed there were no other passengers getting on the plane. Sally was so excited she did not care that there was only the pilot, co-pilot and a steward flying with her. They let her go into the cockpit as they were approaching Richmond, VA., so she could see the lights of the city. She arrived and Bill met her at the airport in a chauffeured limousine. They enjoyed themselves and Bill did not want her to leave. She stayed an extra day and was almost fired ftom her job because she did not have the time off.
Bill finally was discharged ftom the service on March 18th, 1954 and came home to look for a job. The first job he got was working at a cigarette factory and then his Uncle Curtis got him on as a carpenter building houses in Shively. Sally got pregnant with Cathy Sue and she was born Jan, 18th 1955. They had to move to another apartment on the first floor when she was pregnant as they were living in one on the third floor and the steps were too much for Sally to climb. Both apartments were on River Park Drive across from their parents. Things were going well and after Cathy was born in a few months later, Sally went back to work. They did not have daycare back then and Sally's mother Grace Lich kept her at her home. Bill would come get Cathy after work, when she was old enough to stand alone, and they would go to pick up Sally from her work. They had no seat belts or car seats back then and Cathy would stand in the front seat next to Bill and he would put his arm in front of her to brace her and keep her from falling. In December 1955, Bill was Baptized at West Broadway Baptist Church.
Bill was soon hired at Ford Motor Company and they saved up $500 to put a down payment on a house on Greenwood Road in Pleasure Ridge Park. Ford Motor Co. in 1957 and 1958 had a lot of strikes and would have lay offs. It was difficult for the
family to keep the bills paid, but they managed to do so. Things were going well and Sally was going to have another baby. On June 10th 1958 Terri Lea arrived and the family was growing. One day in 1961 Bill bought his first old car which was a 1941 Plymouth Coupe. He said it was to drive back and forth to work, but it did not work out that way. Bill soon learned to lay stone and with another friend, who was laid off, they started getting some houses to put Bedford Stone on them. It was good working for him self and Bill hired some workers and started laying stone full time. On March 19th 1960, William II arrived and now there were 3 children. Bill started to contract out new houses to be built and put them up for sale. Things were plentiful in the 1960's and money was easy to borrow. On June 9th 1963 Sally Ann was born and there were 4 children. The house was getting too small for all of them, so Bill decided they would build a larger house.
-
They thought they had enough room in the new house for everything. Sally got to pick out all the fixtures and decorate and it was fun. On Halloween 1967 they moved in and were happy with the new house. In about 1965 Bill started repairing old clocks that his mother had bought. He then got interested in buying antique clocks
and acquired many of them. Bill's work continued to be good, but Bill was working long hours and very tired. All though the rest of the 1960's and early 1970's Bill worked with stone and then started laying brick on buildings. Some time in the late 1970's he decided things were not going well with having people working for you so he quit working for himself and he went to work for another company. He was working out of town in the eastern part of the state and came home on weekends. He was a foreman and ran the jobs with people working under him. His breathing was getting worse from all the stone dust and smoking and he was tired a lot.
He worked until about 1992 and then decided to retire. About 1997 he got interested in turning the 1941 Plymouth into a street rod. That started his interest in the old cars. He restored a 1931 Ford, Model A 2 door sedan, started working on a 1929 Ford, 4 door, completed 2, 1933 4 door Dodge Broughams to mint condition and bought a 1932 Plymouth Roaster and a 1934 Dodge, 4 door sedan. Sally and Bill would travel to different states with the cars and they met a lot of nice people who are dear friends to this day. Bill and Sally enjoyed these years and their trips together. In Nov. of 2007 Bill and Sally flew to Baltimore to look at a 1934 Dodge 4 door convertible that had to be restored. He bought it and was going to start right away to replace it with new parts. That month his back started bothering him and he went to get an MRI. They found a tumor on his spine and cancer that had spread to his spine. After surgery and much treatment he was not recovering and he passed away 02/22/08.
Bill could always fix, repair or build anything that came his way. He would help anyone that needed to be helped. He taught all his family and others to do the things that he could do and the legend will be passed on through the years.
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ALBRO, WILLIAM E. "BILL," 75, of Louisville, passed away Friday, February 22, 2008, at Park Terrace. He had retired as a foreman from River City Development Co. and was also a retired brick and stone mason. He was a member of Beechland Baptist Church, a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War, a member of the Shawnee Masonic Lodge # 830 F&AM, Fortitude Lodge #47, the Scottish Rite and the Kosair Shrine Temple. He was an avid restorer of antique cars and a member of the NSRA and the Plymouth Club. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lee and Dollie Albro; and his brothers, Robert and James Albro. He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Sarah "Sally Mae" Albro; his children, Cathy Mattingly (Robert), Terri Laird (Geary), William Albro II (Yvonne) and Sally Fowler (Michael); 10 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and many nephews, nieces, cousins and friends. His funeral service will be held noon Tuesday at the Heady-Hardy Funeral Home, 7710 Dixie Hwy., with burial to follow at the Bethany Memorial Cemetery. Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Monday and after 9 a.m. Tuesday. Memorial contributions may be made to Beechland Baptist Church or the Shawnee Foundation.
In late 1949 or early 1950 the family bought a house and moved on River Park Drive. There he met Sally Lich and they started dating. After school he worked at Blue Bird Pie Bakery and worked for a company called "Our Own Delivery" (the first of UPS) during 1949 and 1951. One time he mowed a lady's yard to work for a little Cocker Puppy. This was the first Queenie. The first car he bought was a 1941 Nash and he was proud of the car. A lot of the time it did not run and he would be in the garage working to get it fixed. One time he had it all put back together and the part was on backward so he started all over again.
On March 19th 1951 he joined the Army and left for basic training at Ft. Eustis, VA. He completed basic on June 18th, 1951 and was to leave for a tour of duty in Korea. Bill bought an engagement ring for Sally while he was at Ft. Eustis (Aug. 3,
1951) before he came home on leave. Bill and Sally became engaged during the time after he came home. He left for Korea by train to Seattle, W A. in August of 1951. The company was put on a ship called The US Naval Marine Phoenix on 8/31/51 to sail across the Pacific Ocean with thousands of soldiers bound for Japan. It was a long trip and Bill said the ship would lean over on one side until the waves would touch the top deck and then the ship would lean the other way. He said there was nothing to do except play cards and stand in long lines for chow. By the time you got finished with one meal it was time to line up for the next meal. They would wind down the steps from deck to deck and wait to get in to eat. They gave them coffee 3 times a day with no cream or sugar .
He arrived in Japan Sept. 1951 and was transported to Korea. At first he was just a few miles back from the front line, but soon they needed a typist and person to send supplies to the front, so he was sent to Pusan. He drove a jeep to take the Captain places and took the supplies to a train to be shipped back to the company at the front line. One time while trying to load a train he dropped a large bottle (about 4 ft tall) made of steel on his hand and it swelled up to 3 times the size it was supposed to be. He wrote many letters home and was waiting to get his points to rotate back to his unit and come home. He made the rank of Corporal during that time. He always said he would never go back to Korea again as to him it was a cold, dirty and awful place.
He came back to the US on another big ship and then took a train to Kentucky. He finally arrived home in September 1952 and both Bill and Sally were very happy. On September 19th, 1952, Bill and Sally were married by Dr. E. F. Estes at West Broadway Baptist Church. They went on their honeymoon to Cumberland Falls
Park. His brother Bob had just bought a Chrysler and let them take this car to drive there. After driving there (there were no expressways back then) they arrived and pulled up to the Lodge and the brakes on the car went out. They were in the mountains and there were no gas stations there. The next day they coasted down the mountain with just the emergency brake to stop them to a gas station near Corbin, KY. There they were able to get the brakes fixed and go back to the Lodge. They cut the honeymoon short as they had very little money left and drove to Central City, KY., where Bill's parents met them. They arrive with one dime between them and then started home.
Bill was hoping to go to Ft. Knox for the rest of his service, however it was not to be. He was home less than a month and then was transferred to Ft. Lee, VA. Sally planned to stay at home and work as she was employed by Bell South and had a pretty good job. After a few weeks of being alone, both Bill and Sally decided she was to come there with him to live. They were very happy to be together and although had little money, life was good. All of 1953 they were together in VA and made several trips to visit their parents in Kentucky. Towards the end of the year, Bill had orders to be shipped to another base out west. He only had a few months left before he was to be discharged ftom the service. Bill's parents came to VA., to bring Sally back home along with 2 small dogs they had called PeeWee and Joanie. Before they had gotten very far out his orders had been changed and he did not have to go anywhere else. There were no cell phones in those days and he could not tell them to come back. However, they decided that Sally would stay home and get an apartment for when Bill was discharged to come home. She was able to get back on at the telephone company and settled down to wait for Bill. After several months they were missing each other and one weekend he told her to fly up to visit him in V A. She did and that was her first time to fly in an airplane. As she was getting on the plane her mother noticed there were no other passengers getting on the plane. Sally was so excited she did not care that there was only the pilot, co-pilot and a steward flying with her. They let her go into the cockpit as they were approaching Richmond, VA., so she could see the lights of the city. She arrived and Bill met her at the airport in a chauffeured limousine. They enjoyed themselves and Bill did not want her to leave. She stayed an extra day and was almost fired ftom her job because she did not have the time off.
Bill finally was discharged ftom the service on March 18th, 1954 and came home to look for a job. The first job he got was working at a cigarette factory and then his Uncle Curtis got him on as a carpenter building houses in Shively. Sally got pregnant with Cathy Sue and she was born Jan, 18th 1955. They had to move to another apartment on the first floor when she was pregnant as they were living in one on the third floor and the steps were too much for Sally to climb. Both apartments were on River Park Drive across from their parents. Things were going well and after Cathy was born in a few months later, Sally went back to work. They did not have daycare back then and Sally's mother Grace Lich kept her at her home. Bill would come get Cathy after work, when she was old enough to stand alone, and they would go to pick up Sally from her work. They had no seat belts or car seats back then and Cathy would stand in the front seat next to Bill and he would put his arm in front of her to brace her and keep her from falling. In December 1955, Bill was Baptized at West Broadway Baptist Church.
Bill was soon hired at Ford Motor Company and they saved up $500 to put a down payment on a house on Greenwood Road in Pleasure Ridge Park. Ford Motor Co. in 1957 and 1958 had a lot of strikes and would have lay offs. It was difficult for the
family to keep the bills paid, but they managed to do so. Things were going well and Sally was going to have another baby. On June 10th 1958 Terri Lea arrived and the family was growing. One day in 1961 Bill bought his first old car which was a 1941 Plymouth Coupe. He said it was to drive back and forth to work, but it did not work out that way. Bill soon learned to lay stone and with another friend, who was laid off, they started getting some houses to put Bedford Stone on them. It was good working for him self and Bill hired some workers and started laying stone full time. On March 19th 1960, William II arrived and now there were 3 children. Bill started to contract out new houses to be built and put them up for sale. Things were plentiful in the 1960's and money was easy to borrow. On June 9th 1963 Sally Ann was born and there were 4 children. The house was getting too small for all of them, so Bill decided they would build a larger house.
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They thought they had enough room in the new house for everything. Sally got to pick out all the fixtures and decorate and it was fun. On Halloween 1967 they moved in and were happy with the new house. In about 1965 Bill started repairing old clocks that his mother had bought. He then got interested in buying antique clocks
and acquired many of them. Bill's work continued to be good, but Bill was working long hours and very tired. All though the rest of the 1960's and early 1970's Bill worked with stone and then started laying brick on buildings. Some time in the late 1970's he decided things were not going well with having people working for you so he quit working for himself and he went to work for another company. He was working out of town in the eastern part of the state and came home on weekends. He was a foreman and ran the jobs with people working under him. His breathing was getting worse from all the stone dust and smoking and he was tired a lot.
He worked until about 1992 and then decided to retire. About 1997 he got interested in turning the 1941 Plymouth into a street rod. That started his interest in the old cars. He restored a 1931 Ford, Model A 2 door sedan, started working on a 1929 Ford, 4 door, completed 2, 1933 4 door Dodge Broughams to mint condition and bought a 1932 Plymouth Roaster and a 1934 Dodge, 4 door sedan. Sally and Bill would travel to different states with the cars and they met a lot of nice people who are dear friends to this day. Bill and Sally enjoyed these years and their trips together. In Nov. of 2007 Bill and Sally flew to Baltimore to look at a 1934 Dodge 4 door convertible that had to be restored. He bought it and was going to start right away to replace it with new parts. That month his back started bothering him and he went to get an MRI. They found a tumor on his spine and cancer that had spread to his spine. After surgery and much treatment he was not recovering and he passed away 02/22/08.
Bill could always fix, repair or build anything that came his way. He would help anyone that needed to be helped. He taught all his family and others to do the things that he could do and the legend will be passed on through the years.
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ALBRO, WILLIAM E. "BILL," 75, of Louisville, passed away Friday, February 22, 2008, at Park Terrace. He had retired as a foreman from River City Development Co. and was also a retired brick and stone mason. He was a member of Beechland Baptist Church, a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War, a member of the Shawnee Masonic Lodge # 830 F&AM, Fortitude Lodge #47, the Scottish Rite and the Kosair Shrine Temple. He was an avid restorer of antique cars and a member of the NSRA and the Plymouth Club. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lee and Dollie Albro; and his brothers, Robert and James Albro. He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Sarah "Sally Mae" Albro; his children, Cathy Mattingly (Robert), Terri Laird (Geary), William Albro II (Yvonne) and Sally Fowler (Michael); 10 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and many nephews, nieces, cousins and friends. His funeral service will be held noon Tuesday at the Heady-Hardy Funeral Home, 7710 Dixie Hwy., with burial to follow at the Bethany Memorial Cemetery. Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Monday and after 9 a.m. Tuesday. Memorial contributions may be made to Beechland Baptist Church or the Shawnee Foundation.
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