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Margaret Albright

[June 22, 2009]  Margaret Evaline Albright, 96, of Lincoln, died Tuesday, June 16, 2009, at St. Clara's Manor, where she had lived since Nov. 21, 2008. She previously lived at Friendship Manor, and prior to that at Windemere Estates for 29 years.

Her adopted family in the area, the Drakes, will receive friends at a visitation service at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 23, at the First Presbyterian Church, 301 Pekin St. in Lincoln. Immediately following, around 10:30 a.m., there will be a funeral service conducted by her minister, Pastor Phil Blackburn.

After the funeral, a luncheon will be served in the church fellowship hall for any guests who are available to stay and celebrate her long life with her adoptive family.

Interment will take place later at Rosehill Cemetery in Grundy Center, Iowa, where she will be buried alongside her husband, Edgar R. Albright.

Holland Barry and Bennett Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

She taught kindergarten and third grade in Iowa, Missouri and Illinois in a career spanning 20 years. After retiring from teaching and moving with her husband to the Logan County area, she worked an additional 10 years, from 1972 to 1982, at Lincoln Developmental Center as a mental health technician.

She was born Jan. 17, 1913, at an orphanage in Ottumwa, Iowa. She and her brother, Clifford Baird, were adopted by Bertha Arbella Scholes Baird and Wilson Alexander Baird of College Springs, Iowa. Margaret married Edgar R. Albright on Aug. 15, 1942.

She is survived by two nieces on her husband's side, Linda VanHeiden of Iowa Falls, Iowa, and Sharon Smith of Waterloo, Iowa, along with one first cousin, Silva Scholes, and numerous other first cousins on her mother's side, from Iowa, Colorado, Arizona, California and Florida.

She also leaves behind her dear friends and adopted family in the area, Lil Drake of Lincoln; Lil's children, Bob and Lee Schall of Broadwell, Mike and Connie Drake of Elkhart, and Larry and Patti Drake of Elkhart; all her church family and friends; and the new friends she had recently made among the staff and residents of St. Clara's Manor. Margaret was especially thankful for all the extra efforts on her behalf by her dear friend LPN nurse Bill Carter of Elkhart.

She was a faithful member and past deaconess in the First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln. While a member there, she was part of the church choir and the Sarah, Ruth, Miriam Missionary Circle.

She was also active in Lincoln as a member of the community choral music group and the writing club at The Oasis, where she wrote a prize-winning story about her adoption and the special relationship she had with her adoptive mother. Margaret also enjoyed entertaining people as a member of the Fun-o-leers music group that regularly performed at many community events and local nursing homes.

She was an excellent musician who played the piano and sang for many community events with her beautiful soprano voice. In her youth she also performed on a local Iowa radio station, KSO, during their regularly broadcast Farm Bureau programs.

She graduated from a small teachers college in Iowa.

Margaret loved flowers, and any sent will later be shared with local nursing home residents. Memorials, if you choose to honor her in that way instead, may be given in her name to any of your favorite charities or to the youth program at her local church, First Presbyterian in Lincoln.

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