Marguerite Eileen Lilly Albin, age 104, died January 23, 2026, at her daughter’s home in Birmingham, Alabama. Mrs. Albin’s life spanned many of the great events of the 20th century. Born in a working class family in London, England, much of her childhood coincided with the Great Depression. After the outbreak of World War II, she enlisted in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS), serving throughout the war. Shortly after the end of the war, she met an American GI, Maurice Albin. Following a whirlwind courtship, they married, inaugurating a devoted partnership that ended only with Maurice’s death after 70 years of marriage. An adventurous and cosmopolitan couple, they lived in post-war Germany during Maurice’s service in the US Army of Occupation, in his native New York City, in Mexico City, and in a variety of American cities where Maurice held academic appointments as a physician-scientist.
Marguerite was the binding force of the Albin family. She worked to put Maurice through college and medical school, and raised three children. Aptly described by her WRNS commanding officer as “quiet and effective,” she was modest, dignified, and highly competent at all she attempted. A warm, loving, and fiercely protective presence within her family, she presented a somewhat reserved demeanor to the rest of society. Gifted with a sharp and skeptical intelligence, she had a liberal temperament coupled with an ironic, occasionally mordant, sensibility. She disliked pretense and despised all forms of bigotry. Marguerite and Maurice were models of principled conduct, emphasized the importance of education, and encouraged lives of public service. As an immigrant citizen, she had a great sense of the strengths and weaknesses of American life. She contributed to her adopted country by deep involvement in many political and social causes. She deplored the recent retreat from post-World War II ideals. She bore her widowhood and final, chronic illness with accustomed dignity.
She is survived by her three children, six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. All three female great-grandchildren are named after her.
Marguerite was the binding force of the Albin family. She worked to put Maurice through college and medical school, and raised three children. Aptly described by her WRNS commanding officer as “quiet and effective,” she was modest, dignified, and highly competent at all she attempted. A warm, loving, and fiercely protective presence within her family, she presented a somewhat reserved demeanor to the rest of society. Gifted with a sharp and skeptical intelligence, she had a liberal temperament coupled with an ironic, occasionally mordant, sensibility. She disliked pretense and despised all forms of bigotry. Marguerite and Maurice were models of principled conduct, emphasized the importance of education, and encouraged lives of public service. As an immigrant citizen, she had a great sense of the strengths and weaknesses of American life. She contributed to her adopted country by deep involvement in many political and social causes. She deplored the recent retreat from post-World War II ideals. She bore her widowhood and final, chronic illness with accustomed dignity.
She is survived by her three children, six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. All three female great-grandchildren are named after her.
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