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Son remembers Albright as 'big as life'
GREENCASTLE -- Bobby Albright's son Mark remembers his late father as "gregarious."
"He was as big as life a character as I'd ever met," Mark said with a smile in his voice.
Bobby Albright, a former Putnam County sheriff and councilman and Greencastle mayor and councilman, died Wednesday. He was 83.
Bobby, who was also a longtime Putnam County business owner and was active with the Republican Party, had suffered from heart problems and had been in failing health for the past couple of years.
"The last two years you could really see him declining," Mark said. "He just kind of wore out. It was a blessing that he went as quickly and as peacefully as he did."
Mark said he credits his father with instilling a good work ethic in his children.
"Whatever we had we earned, and whatever we earned we respected," he said.
In addition to Mark, Bobby and his wife Vera, with whom he would have celebrated a 60th wedding anniversary on Nov. 24, had a daughter, Jackie. Bobby raised his children with love tempered with definite rules.
"He was kind in his ways but stern in his beliefs," Mark said.
Bobby's younger brother David agreed.
"He was conservative in his political beliefs and in his lifestyle," David said. "That was because he grew up during the Depression."
David, who was 25 years younger than Bobby, said his brother never shied away from telling the truth if he was asked for it.
"If you asked him something, he always had an opinion," David said with a chuckle. "But he also respected yours. We had our disagreements, but one thing we always agreed on is that we loved each other."
Bobby grew up in Limedale. He graduated from Greencastle High School in 1944, then joined the U.S. Navy later that year.
He became the sheriff of Putnam County in 1965 and served two terms. He served on the Greencastle City Council from 1984-87, and acted as the mayor of Greencastle in 1987, completing the term of Mayor Gerald Warren, who had passed away while in office.
Bobby was also a member of the Putnam County Council.
He owned the Robo Car Wash in Putnam County from 1974-98.
An obituary for Bobby Albright appears on Page 2A.