Albin "Al" Albert Dolezal

Albin (Al) Albert Dolezal was born May 3, 1927 on a farm near Clarkson, Nebraska. He was the fourth of seven children of Albert and Anna (Hanzl) Dolezal. He grew up on the farm during the dust bowl years of the 1930s, learning English for the first time in his one-room country school. Thanks to his mother's foresight, in August of 1940, she asked Al whether he would like to go to high school and he said “yes”. Al then became the first person in his family to attend and graduate high school (Stanton High School). This required him to move to a boarding room in town and work for his room and board. Stanton's principal Meroe Owens excused Al from school for a few weeks one fall so that he could help his family pick corn, and instead required him to write a research paper on Russia. He earned his degree and graduated in 1945.

Al really enjoyed playing drums in the high school band and later played in the Dolezal family band, the Silver Star Bohemian Orchestra, and played for dances in towns all across Nebraska.

After high school Al attended and completed Coyne Electrical School in Chicago living with a relative. He returned to Stanton and worked with Allan Yorke wiring farmsteads under the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). He later became business partners with Allan.

Al married rural school teacher Dorothy Ann Yorke in 1950. They recently celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary.

Al served in the US Navy from 1952 to 1956 in the Atlantic Fleet during the Korean War. In the navy he was an electronics technician on the flagship of a fleet of minesweepers and worked on various ships as needed. He was chosen the honor man of his company in basic training and received a commemorative award.

After serving in the Navy, Al joined IBM in 1956 and moved to Lincoln, his home since then. He worked for IBM as a field engineer and specialist, retiring in 1990 (35 years). With IBM, Al was part of the first team to install a computer system in Nebraska (Mutual of Omaha Insurance) and planned and participated in many other computer system installations in Lincoln and elsewhere.

Upon retirement, Al was bestowed with the rank of Admiral in the “Great Navy of the State of Nebraska” for his long-time service to the state, much of it spent in the state's computer center in the state capitol and at the University of Nebraska.

Al and Dorothy had three sons: Richard, Wayne, and Brian. The whole family was active in scouting and notably each son received his Eagle Scout awards. The scouting tradition has now extended to Al and Dorothy's grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Notably, Al was the first scout leader to lead a troop in completing the then-new Computer Merit Badge in 1967.

The family enjoyed traveling extensively through the western United States with camping trips to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. After retirement, Al and Dorothy continued to travel, including trips to Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Turkey, and Canada.

Al and Dorothy joined St. Mark's United Methodist Church in 1958 and performed many service roles for the church.

Al was preceded in death by his parents and five siblings (Mildred, George, Josephine, Paul and Palma). He is survived by sister Georgia, wife Dorothy, three sons Rich (Liz), Wayne (Sharon), Brian (Laura), six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers memorials to Eastmont Foundation or St. Mark's United Methodist Church Foundation