Albert Smith "Al" McCrossen

McCrossen, Albert Smith "Al" Albert Smith McCrossen passed peacefully from this life Monday, Aug. 7, 2006. He had been living at St. James Place near family in Baton Rouge since being displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Though he lost much in the flood, he died surrounded by all the things important to him: his family, his friends and his memories of a life lived with fullness, with color and with classic New Orleans style. Al was born in the city's Irish Channel on July 31, 1928, the seventh of eight children of Tom and Annie McCrossen. He attended Redemptorist and Holy Cross schools in his youth. In 1950, he married Lark Anne Moore. After serving in the Korean War, Al and Lark settled down to raise their five daughters, living in Algiers and later in Metairie. Al's business career was based in medical sales. Over those years, he worked for Bausch and Lomb, Alcon Laboratories, Storz Medical, and JedMed Instruments Inc., finally retiring in 1997. His career was remarkable for both professional accomplishments and the friendships made in both the medical and sales communities alike. Al's passion though was in playing music. Receiving his first trumpet as a child, he often told of learning to play along as his mother, Annie, sang songs with the radio. Developing his musical ear at such an early age led to a lifetime of playing in and around the city of New Orleans, many of those years with his band, The Satisfiers. Known by musicians as a weekend warrior, he was booked solid for local weddings, dances and events for over three decades. His "soft horn" style was shaped by the influences of the big bands, the classics of the '40s, early childhood memories of New Orleans jazz funerals in his neighborhood and Sister Basil at Redemptorist who scolded repeatedly, "You play a horn, you don't blow it!" In June 2003, he was inducted into the Louisiana Musician's Hall of Fame. In all that he did, Al is remembered for his sense of humor, his quick smile, his lasting friendships and his ability to tell stories of the "old neighborhood" and the people he connected to, unique to the culture of New Orleans. He often stated he was the luckiest man alive. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lark, in 2001. He is survived by his five daughters, 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, the youngest of whom he called baby "Annie," born just six weeks ago. Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend the funeral service from the chapel of Leitz-Eagan Funeral Home, 4747 Veterans Blvd., Metairie, on Friday, Aug. 11, at 2 p.m. Visitation on Friday from noon until service time. Interment in Metairie Cemetery. Please sign the online guest book at http://www.legacy.com.