Alfred Pust

Alfred Karl Richard Pust was born on June 1, 1931, in a small town called Lanke, in Pomerania, Germany. His large extended family lived on a farm, and he attended a one-room school house with his sister and cousins. His formal education ended when he was in the fifth grade, with the advent of World War II.

After the war was over, and having lost his uncles and his grandfather, the remaining family suffered greatly from the Russians who ransacked their village. They were forced from their land and relocated to a village called Dargibell, where Alfred helped his father build a house from used bricks and scrap lumber.

At age 17, Alfred went to work for the communists in a uranium mine in the Ore Mountains. After two years, they would not release him to work elsewhere. His desire for freedom and a better life was so strong, that he made up his mind to escape to America.

He bought a ticket and boarded the train to Berlin, which was divided into several sectors. When the train stopped at the station., Alfred locked himself in the bathroom, opened the window, tossed out his bag, and jumped out. He hit the ground running and ran blindly until he ran straight into a British soldier. He claimed to be a political refugee. The kind soldier took him to the Americans, who allowed him to stay. Alfred spent his next two years in West Germany working in a coal mine. During that time, he saved his money, applied for a visa and got a sponsor. He worked up until the day he boarded the ship to America.

Arriving in the United States, he went to work on his sponsor’s chicken farm in New Jersey. He learned English and eventually moved to New York City. He found work cleaning a deli at night, and washing dishes at a restaurant. Eventually he found work as a busboy at a famous German restaurant called Luchow’s.

He met the love of his life, Paula, at a German-American night club. Paula, who he always called his Pearl, was also an immigrant. They married on February 5, l955 and had two daughters. Alfred taught himself to refinish furniture and secured a job in that profession. In l959, he became an American citizen. He followed his boss to Phoenix, Arizona in l961 and he and Paula purchased their first home.

In 1966, he opened up his own furniture refinishing business. Shortly after that, he purchased a piece of land with an old cabin on it in Mormon Lake, Arizona. He restored the cabin and then built his dream house next to it. He and Paula made many friends at Mormon Lake and they spent many hours raising money to build a much-needed fire department. He then trained as a paramedic and fire fighter and spent years responding to local emergencies and fires.

Alfred loved gardening, reading, fishing, playing chess, and gambling at local casinos.

He was preceded in death by Paula, his wife of 68 years.

He is survived by a sister, Gerda Kaufman, daughters Birgit Tyre and Margaret Roberts, two grandchildren, Sarah Pollock and Stephen Roberts, and six great-grandchildren: Elizabeth, Nicholas and Luke Pollock, and Matthew, David and Rachel Roberts.