George LaVern (“Vern”) Albright (88), beloved husband and
father, prominent local attorney, Air Force Veteran, and LDS Patriarch, passed away
in the early morning of July 7, 2017, from heart failure, after 64 years of
marriage to his Las Vegas High School sweetheart, Barbara Carruth.
Vern was born on May 30, 1929, in Albuquerque New Mexico, to
parents George Harwood (“Bud”) Albright, a future Clark County Commissioner and
“Father of the Las Vegas Convention Center” and Marjorie Eugenia Hageman
Albright, a future beloved, beautiful and sophisticated grandmother.
Vern was not blessed with a stable childhood, and spent his
early formative years living with different relatives or foster families, in
many different places, including New Mexico, California, Nevada, and
Texas. Beginning in the 7th
Grade, Vern was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada by his father Bud and his
stepmother Ellen Finnerty Albright. Vern
was the oldest of Bud’s three sons, and had the privilege of being an older
brother to local Police Officer Karl Albright, now deceased (married to Sue Ellen
Howell) and to local Convention Industry member Ken Albright (married to Kathy
Oden). Vern, Karl, and Ken carried on a
weekly tradition of eating lunch together with their father for many years
during their adult lives.
Shortly after he moved to Las Vegas, Vern’s friend Carl
Christensen invited him to join a local Boy Scout Troop where he gained many
friends, and from which he earned his Eagle at 16. Vern met his future wife Barbara Carruth
(daughter of Scott Heber Carruth and Ella Calista Earl Carruth) during their
days at Las Vegas High School, and remained smitten with her for the rest of
his life. Two days before his death, he
told one of his grandsons, “Barbara’s touch still electrifies me the same way
it did when we started dating.” Vern graduated
from Las Vegas High School in 1947, and was chosen by his classmates to give
the Graduation Speech for their class.
At 18 years old, Vern was baptized as a member of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by his lifelong friend, Lloyd D. (“Duko”)
George. Vern was devoted to the Church and accepted and magnified many callings
throughout his life. He served a
full-time LDS Mission to South Africa from 1950 to 1952, and was able to be one
of the first 8 missionaries to open the work in Rhodesia. He remained close to his Mission President,
and to many of his missionary companions, for many decades after his
mission. Vern would later serve as a Bishop
of the Las Vegas 28th Ward (“The Great 28th”), as a Mission
President in Tampa Florida (1988-1991), as a Single Adult Ward Bishop, and, for
many years, as Patriarch of the Las Vegas, Nevada Stake.
After his time in South Africa, Vern was finally able to
marry his beloved Barbara, who had graduated as Salutatorian from the University
of Nevada Reno, and was working as a teacher.
They were married on August 25, 1952, in the Salt Lake City Utah Temple,
by Spencer W. Kimball. Vern then resumed his studies at Brigham Young
University and joined the Air Force ROTC. After he graduated, Vern and Barbara
lived in many different locales as Vern served for 4 and ½ years (1954 – 1959) as
an officer and pilot in the United States Air Force, fulfilling a boyhood dream
to become a pilot. He would later
recount how well he had been prepared to learn to fly, by all of the childhood
afternoons he had practiced dive-bombing in his imagination.
Vern and Barbara then lived in Arlington
Virginia as Vern attended George Washington University Law School in Washington
D.C. Vern earned his way through school
by working graveyard shifts guarding the Capitol building as a U.S. Capitol
Policeman. To balance this job with his
rigorous school schedule, he slept in 3 hours shifts throughout the day and
night, but still managed to obtain such good grades that he was invited onto the
Editorial Board of the Law Review, and graduated early, and with honors, in 1961.
Vern then served briefly as a legislative assistant to U.S.
Senator for Nevada Howard Cannon, and then relocated with Barbara and their
oldest children to Las Vegas, then a small but growing town, with few lawyers
and lots of opportunity. Vern quickly became
the only Las Vegas assistant to Nevada’s U.S. Attorney, and subsequently joined
the D.A.’s office, which offered higher pay, weekly felony trials, and the
chance to do private civil work on the side.
These jobs allowed Vern to obtain invaluable experience, and prosecute
over 50 jury trials in his first 18 months as an attorney, often against well-known
local attorneys who had been practicing for decades, who were defending the
cases by court appointment. After
leaving government practice, Vern continued to be appointed to prosecute
criminal cases and also to defend a number of murder trials, but ultimately spent
most of his career as a civil litigator, becoming a highly regarded and
successful business attorney, and remaining a member of the Bar for over 50
years. Vern tried his hand at family
law, but could never have made a living in that field, as, whenever a new client tried to hire him
to handle a divorce, he would talk them out of getting one, and tell them what
they needed to do to fall back in love with their spouse. The firm he formed in 1970 soon received an
AV rating, and still exists today as Albright, Stoddard, Warnick &
Albright. In 1973, Vern served as President of the local Kiwanis Club, which,
under his tenure, helped to establish and began to sponsor the Varsity Quiz program
for CCSD High School students, which is still ongoing to this day, and recently
honored Vern for his founding role.
Vern and Barbara raised four children, who all continue to
live in Las Vegas: Mark, an attorney (married to Karyn Wasden); Douglas, a commercial real estate broker
(married to Megan Stromer); Karen, a homemaker and real estate agent (married
to Paul Callister); and Chris, an attorney (married to Elaine Bowman). In addition to his wife Barbara, his brother
Ken, and his four children, Vern is survived by 18 grandchildren and 36
great-grandchildren.
Vern’s children and grandchildren have many fond memories of
Vern’s serious side, lecturing and teaching them about the importance of
positive thoughts and that they would become what they think about, Emerson’s
essay on the law of compensation, and the principles of the Gospel including
especially the power of the priesthood, and the miracles he had seen in his own
life when he or a loved one were called upon to exercise that power.
Vern’s children and grandchildren also have many fond
memories of Vern’s fun side, including how he loved to sing, and teach them all
the lyrics to, comedic songs during road trips; how much he enjoyed sneaking up
slowly behind someone (in a melodramatic fashion for the benefit of others in
the room who could see what was about to happen), and then scream and grab his
victim under their arms to scare them when they weren’t paying attention; and
how much he loved to embarrass his children on chairlifts by taking off his upper
layers of clothing one by one and belting out a song, prompting his children to
pretend he wasn’t with them and to ask loudly, “where are you from sir?” He also loved to sneak out of hospital rooms when
he had decided, against a doctor’s orders, that it was time to leave, and
rejoiced to find out from a subsequent visitor that he was later being hailed
over the intercom to return to his room.
Vern retained a keen intellect up until the end of his life,
reading the newspaper daily and exhorting his children to read that day’s Wall
Street Journal editorial, sometimes providing them a copy if he suspected they
wouldn’t get around to doing so. Vern and Barbara’s children were blessed to be
raised, and his grandchildren were blessed to be influenced, by a man who
believed in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ; strict honesty; positive
thoughts; hard work; service to others; and in doing fun things, which included,
at one time or another over the years, motorboating, waterskiing, sailing,
motorcycling, shooting, golfing, RVing, snowmobiling, travelling, attending
plays and operas, and lots and lots of snow-skiing (but no camping if it could
be avoided).
Vern was a dynamic speaker
and leader whose influence will never be forgotten by the many people, young
and old, who were blessed by his service to his family, his Church, his clients,
his profession, and his community. His
family is blessed by the knowledge he taught us, that, through the loving
providence of our Heavenly Father, and the grace of Jesus Christ, we can all be
with Vern and our other family members, once again.
Memorial services will be held at the following times and
locations:
Viewing. Friday
July 14th, 2017 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., at the LDS Chapel
located at 3400 West Charleston, Las Vegas Nevada 89102.
Pre-service Viewing.
Saturday July 15th, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the LDS Chapel located at 3400 West Charleston, Las Vegas
Nevada 89102.
Funeral. Saturday July 15th, at 11:00 a.m.,
at the LDS Chapel located at 3400 West Charleston, Las Vegas Nevada 89102.
Internment. Saturday
July 15th, at 1:30 p.m. Palm Northwest Cemetery. 6701 North Jones
Blvd.
A luncheon will be provided after the Internment, at the
Charleston Chapel.
