John A. Albers Sr.

John A. Albers Sr., age 68, was born in St. Marys, OH, on February 22, 1957. John passed away peacefully at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, IL, on Sunday, May 11, 2025 surrounded by his loving family.

His father Cletus & mother Irene (Wenning) Albers had 10 children: Mike, Charlotte, Bill (late), Ken, Steve, Paula, Jay, Theresa & Ted. He is leaving behind an exponential number of in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins & friends. John grew up in Ohio and then moved to Arlington Heights, IL, where he proudly raised his family.

He is survived by his wife Laurie (Duren) Albers of 42 years, his daughter Kayla & husband Tim as well as their two children Timmy (9) & Avery (4) Hranka, his son Johnny & wife Halley (Parks) Albers Jr.

His family will forever love & miss him.

His love of flying was shared & inspired by his father & oldest brother. He obtained a pilot’s license after he served 4 years in the Navy on an aircraft carrier.

He met his wife Laurie at an Albers family gathering, were married in 1982, and enjoyed activities like roller skating, cycling, taking walks, morning crossword puzzles & playing cribbage nightly.

John took pride in working hard to provide for his family and did an excellent job to say the least, he literally never took a sick day in his life. He was the ultimate fix-it man, he could fix almost anything. He retired from CompX Fort in March 2024 after many years.

His fondest memories included vacationing with his family at the cabin, the Smokey Mountains, deer hunting & of course visiting his son in the Colorado mountains.

During the weekends, he enjoyed making steak burritos, playing poker in the garage and occasionally waking up the neighborhood by turning up a song that he wanted to groove to. Grilled popcorn or gizzards was part of his surprise late-night menu. He was always the life of the party and was particularly hard to take down in a game of bean bags.

John had a passion for being outdoors fishing either at his secret spot “The Back Bay” (which if you are wondering is located in Antarctica) or at “Water’s Meet” way up north in Wisconsin where bald eagles were frequent. He also had great memories fishing with his brothers and father in Canada where monsters lurked.

He had a green thumb and looked forward to growing vegetables in his backyard garden where he would communicate with the local Black Capped Chickadee birds by responding with the “hey sweetie” whistle. Pumpkin blossoms was an Albers delicacy passed down from his loving mother that John was especially good at frying.

His many T-shirts said a lot about the man… “What Happens in the Mountains, Stays in the Mountains”, ”O’Fishally the Best Poppy”, “Top Dad”, “Keep Calm, Poppy Will Fix It”, “Official German Drinking Team”, “Life is Simple, Eat. Sleep. Fish.”, “Poppy, The Man, The Myth, The Legend”.

He was a man of little words but many actions.

If a man is measured by the love he has for his family or the amount of love his family has for him, John’s cup would be constantly overflowing.

He was the strongest man for his family. Ultimately, fight after fight after fight after fight with cancer, his body decided to call it quits but his heart wanted to stay. He went to meet our Lord Jesus & all of his late family & friends in heaven. He will be beyond missed.

By the way, fish tremble when they hear his name…

A visitation for John will be held Friday, May 16, 2025 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Church, 434 W Park St, Arlington Heights, IL 60005, followed by a funeral mass starting at 11:00 AM.