Albert L. HARVEY

HARVEY, WOOD, BECKER, SESTINA, LOEBACH, SESTINA-LOEBACH, LINDEMEIER, STERNS, MARINO, GRIFFITHS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/21/2010 at 15:02:21

May 21, 2010
Fort Dodge Messenger, Iowa

URBANDALE< IA - On May 18, 2010 at Iowa Methodist Medical Center our dear husband and father slipped from our loving arms after an eleven year battle with Parkinson's. Albert was born in Fort Dodge, IA on June 18, 1927 to Ida E. (Wood) and Albert E. Harvey. Albert graduated from Eagle Grove High School and attended junior college in Eagle Grove and Fort Dodge. In 1947 upon returning from the Navy, he met and married June Becker of Fort Dodge on July 22. Albert worked as a plumber for 17 years in Fort Dodge and Des Moines. In 1965, Albert decided to pursue a career in law and enrolled in Drake University. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business in 1967 and then from law school in 1969 at age 42. Al was proud to have his daughter as a fellow student for three of his four years at Drake. In law school he served on the Board of the Iowa Law Review and was admitted to the Order of the Coif. He began his law career as a Law Clerk to Honorable Roy Stephenson, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. He retired as a partner with Dreher, Simpson and Jensen. Albert was once introduced to a group of attorneys as the "Dean of Iowa Labor Law".

Albert's greatest joys were his family and his home. In 1975 he fulfilled a life-long dream of owning his own farm by purchasing farmland near Osceola. Working at the farm was one of his favorite pastimes. He loved a project. He also enjoyed hunting, fishing, boating and traveling. In later years, Al missed spending time at his vacation home at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Left to cherish his memory are, his loving wife of 63 years, June; daughter, Rebecca (Lynn) Sestina; son, Dan (Jolene) Harvey; grandchildren, Adam Sestina, Erin Sestina- Loebach, Emily and Philip Harvey; great-grandchildren, Nichole Lindemeier and two week old Isabella Loebach, whom Al never got the opportunity to hold; sisters-in-law, Doris Sterns of Carroll, IA and Ann Marino of Fort Dodge, IA. He was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Jean Marie Griffiths; brother-in-law, Robert Sterns; sisters-in-law, Frances and Lois Becker; parents-in-law, Louis and Pauline Becker.

Visitation will be on Friday, May 21, 2010 from 4:00 to 8:00 pm at Hamilton's on Westown Parkway, 3601 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 22, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 3223 University in Des Moines. Memorial contributions may be directed to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.