Holger “Al” Albrethsen, Jr

Holger "Al" Albrethsen, Jr.

November 10, 1921 - May 10, 2020

Holger "Al" Albrethsen, Jr., age 98, died on May 10, 2020, at his home in Grand Junction, Colorado, surrounded by loved ones.

"Junior" was born to Holger and Emma (Stalker) Albrethsen on November 10, 1921, on the family dairy farm near Gannett, Idaho. After graduating from Meridian High School in Idaho in 1939, Al attended Boise Junior College and Occidental College in Pasadena, California. He joined the Army Air Corps (later called the Air Force) and rose to the rank of 1st Lieutenant, serving as a bombardier on B-29 bombers in the China-Burma-India and Pacific theatres during WWII. When one of his daughters asked Al if basic training was difficult, he noted that enduring boot camp during the Nebraska winter was a vacation compared to growing up on a dairy farm. Citations included three Air Medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross. To see an interesting interview about Al's wartime experiences, search "Veterans Remember Al Albrethsen" on YouTube.

After his military service, Al finished college and earned his law degree from the University of Idaho in 1950. He first worked as a divorce lawyer, but he was not a man who could stomach domestic conflicts. He switched to contract law, which was a perfect fit for his logical, ordered mind and precision with language. He worked as legal counsel, first for the Bonneville Power Administration in Portland, Oregon, and then at the Atomic Energy Commission (later the Department of Energy) in Grand Junction. The contracts he wrote on behalf of the DOE were always clear, accurate, and concise. As recently as 2014, lawyers called from the Washington, DC, office to get a tutorial on how to write airtight, never-contested contracts like he did. He retired from the DOE in July 1981 as General Counsel after 26 years of service. He loved his work; he loved the people he worked with even more.

Al married Anne Jeanette "Annie" Winn on June 12, 1949, in Bellevue, Idaho. He and Annie moved to Grand Junction in 1955 where they reared four daughters. He always treated Annie as his sweetheart, and he believed the best way to be a good father was to love the mother. He and Annie were married almost 71 years.

Al enjoyed fishing, gardening, and pinochle, but his passion was words. He knew a plethora of them (and their etymology), and strove to choose the most appropriate one in every circumstance. He was truly witty and often produced the perfect pun without missing a beat. Just the other day, he asked whether he had to wear an oxygen cannula anymore because it was rubbing against his neck and "it's a nuisance-emphasis on the noose." He loved to relay funny (mostly true) stories. His humor was often bawdy but never vulgar. Once, Al started to use a toothpick in a restaurant. Annie said, "Al. You're not going to use a toothpick in a public place, are you?" And he said without missing a beat, "Well, I don't want to use a toothpick in a PRIVATE place."

Al was a self-taught musician and became proficient on the clarinet and harmonica without ever learning to read music (although he once paid $5 to take 10 clarinet lessons). He heard harmonies everywhere and saw music in color. One of his true pleasures was to jam with his musician buddies, daughters, and sons-in-law. He continued to play mouth harp well into his 90s and knew hundreds of songs. As his health and eyesight failed him in his final years, he still found joy in listening to his family and friends play music and sing songs.

Al's formidable intellect, quick wit, musical ability, and perfect grammar add up to poetry, and Al wrote some exceptional verses. He composed folkloric poems and enjoyed reciting them at various cowboy poetry gatherings all around Colorado. He emceed both the Silverton Jubilee Folk Music Festival and the 4-H Cowboy Poetry and Dinner Fundraiser in Gateway for many years. Every family gathering included Al's recitations of favorites such as "Treat Everyone Equal" and "Spring Cleanup" (search "Selected Poems Annie Albrethsen" on YouTube). Al chose "Freight Train," written when he was 20, to be included in his obituary.

Freight Train

There's somethin' about a freight train

Whistlin' through the night

That makes a man who's down and out,

With luck plumb out of sight,

Want to either throw his cards

Or tear 'em up for spite,

And head for greener pastures,

Where his soul'l feel right.

It gives a man a feelin'

That he might find in a tomb-

A cramped and crowded feelin'

Stealin' 'round him in the gloom;

And he wants to go from where he is

And get to where there's room

To cast off all the troubles

That can dog a man to doom.

I've heard it in the winter

Like a lost and hopeless thing.

I've heard it, too, in springtime,

And it makes a merry ring

In the coolness of the shadows

That the sun has left to cling

To an earth that's warm with promises

Of what that sun may bring.

But still you get the feelin'

Of a circle, not quite round;

Of a symphony, not finished,

With a distant, lacking, sound;

Of a life you're not quite livin'

In a world you've not quite found;

And you wonder if that world is where

The whistlin' freight is bound.

Against long odds, Al survived bladder cancer in the early 1990s and was able to enjoy another 25 years of poetry, music, and time with Annie. The family gives heartfelt thanks to his primary caregiver, Heather Lashbrook, as well as the excellent caregivers from Nuclear Care Partners. Al loved them all.

Al was preceded in death by his brothers, Dan and Martin Albrethsen, and son-in-law, Fred Lee. He is survived by his wife, Annie; daughters, Karen Albrethsen, Gretchen Goldberg (Rock), Heidi Craig (Jeff), and Sonja Alarr (Albert); 11 grandchildren; one great-grandson; one great-great-granddaughter, and several nieces and nephews.

Holger Albrethsen Jr