It is with great sadness that we share the news that James (Jim) Vincent Albert, Jr., age 78, of Clearwater, Florida, passed away on January 5, 2021, after a brief illness. Born on August 9, 1942, in Youngstown, Ohio, Jim was preceded in death by his parents, James Vincent Sr. and Juanita Albert. He is survived by his loving and dedicated wife of 49 years, Jean Heft Albert; two daughters, Michelle Albert (Bryan Barrett) of Los Angeles, California and Rebecca Albert (Toby Reece) of Palm Harbor, Florida; three grandsons, Cash Reece (11), Jett Barrett (6) and Ford Barrett (4); and sibling, Juanita (Albert) Way of Canfield, Ohio.
Jim attended Canfield High School (Class of 1960) in Canfield, Ohio and was inducted into the Canfield Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982. After high school, Jim attended Ohio University (Class of 1964) in Athens, Ohio on a football scholarship. While at Ohio University, Jim set numerous football records, played in the 1963 Sun Bowl Game, was Captain of the team, named All-American and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. Jim was inducted into the Ohio University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 and described by his late Ohio University football coach as “an explosive inside and outside running threat”. Jim received numerous recruitment letters from various National Football League (NFL) teams while in college and ultimately selected the New York Jets where he spent a brief stint before getting injured.
Jim was a top salesman for Xerox in the Mid-Atlantic Region until he transferred to Florida in 1978. In 1981, Jim opened his own State Farm Insurance Agency in Palm Harbor, Florida, starting with no policies. Jim built a successful insurance business during his tenure and retired in 2007. Ever the athlete, Jim enjoyed playing golf for many years (even having a hole-in-one twice!), swimming, watching sports on TV and attending his grandson’s Little League games. Jim loved cars (particularly Cadillacs), playing cards with his cronies, reading about/investing in the stock market, having a good laugh, providing a helping hand to his friends and sharing his opinion (whether one wanted it or not!). Jim (aka the “Big Kahuna”) was the life of our party and will be greatly missed (although we suspect he will continue watching and monitoring from above!).
Jim’s family would like to profusely thank Dr. Jose Alemar for the amazing care, support, dedication and kindness that he gave during the most difficult of times. We will be forever grateful for the additional time that Dr. Alemar was able to provide us with our much-loved husband and father.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, at 1:30 pm at Sylvan Abbey with a reception to follow at the Countryside Country Club (Jim’s home away from home). In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Jim’s memory to the National Hemophilia Foundation by going to https://www.hemophilia.org/ clicking GIVE and then Honor a Loved One.
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