Albert was born in a small town in Besserabia, Romania, now part of Moldova. He spent his early childhood years there until the start of World War II at which time his family moved to Poland. At the war’s end, he relocated to Germany where he trained to become a coppersmith. In the early 1950’s, Albert emigrated to the United States, and worked for a time on a dairy farm in Jourdanton, TX. He moved to San Antonio where he worked as a welder and in 1963, began his own sheet metal fabrication business - Kuest Corporation. With his knowledge and expertise, he quickly grew the company to become one of the foremost steel fabricators of components for industrial air filtration systems in the United States.
Albert married the love of his life, Veronika Kalthoff, in 1954. Together, they raised a family and ran the family business. In the late 1970’s, Albert branched out into ranching in the Texas Hill Country, where he raised Spanish goats and polled Hereford cattle. There was nothing Albert liked better than riding his ATV across his ranch, stopping only to lunch on a ring of German dried sausage and a loaf of bread under the shade of an oak tree. In his later years, Albert took great joy in watching his grandchildren grow up, and he made sure the older boys learned how to weld.
Contributing to the community provided him immense satisfaction. He devoted many hours renovating the Beethoven Maennerchor Halle und Garten and donated funds to secure the purchase of the adjacent property, informally known as Kuest Haus. He and his wife hosted many touring orchestras from Germany, giving them a taste of Hill Country ranch life. They also hosted events at their home to support groups including San Antonio Opera and Veronika’s choir, Germania Chor.
Albert was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Emma Kuest Mueller.
He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Veronika Kalthoff Kuest, his daughters and their husbands: Juliana Kuest Connolly and Frank Connolly and Kristina Kuest Mistry and Nicholas Mistry; also his grandchildren: Corey Albert Connolly (Katelin Pape Connolly), Alexander Logan Connolly (Cori Picazo Connolly), and Maya Adele Mistry; as well as his great grandchildren: Emily Claire Connolly and Garret Wade Connolly.
Although Albert was a stoic German; he loved his family deeply and held them close in his heart.
A visitation will be held at Porter Loring North on Monday, November 3 from 6-8 pm and funeral services will be on Tuesday, November 4th at 10 am at St. John’s Lutheran Church.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, The Aging Brain Initiative Fund, in memory of Albert Kuest.
Bis wir uns wiedersehen!
