Patricia G. Albright

Patricia Grace (Yeske, Callender) Albright, 84, passed away at Caretel Inns St. Joseph on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. She was born in Benton Harbor on Nov. 26, 1941, the daughter of Rolland and Dora (Farmer) Yeske. Patricia resided in the St. Joseph area her entire life.

Patricia attended Trinity Lutheran School for her primary education and then completed her schooling at St. Joseph High School, graduating in 1959. During her senior year at St. Joe High, she worked at Big Bend Drive-In and WSJM radio in downtown St. Joseph. As the only girl in high school with a car (1950 Chevy), she also helped some of her classmates get to and from their jobs.

After graduating from high school, she married Michael Callender and started a family that resulted in four girls and one boy: Grace (Tom) Dykstra, Ellen (Rick) Ireland, Laura (Steve) Jaeger, Catherine (John) Glassman and Adam (Becky) Callender.

Patricia supplemented the family income by taking various administrative jobs at Whirlpool and working for local attorneys. She then worked with her husband when they opened Mike's Market in Bridgman and later when the grocery store moved to Benton Harbor. After selling the grocery store in the early 1980s, she worked for the vice president of sales at Weldun International while her husband worked for an insurance and investment company.

After the death of her husband, Mike, in 1985, Patricia married James Albright in 1986, adding two more boys to the family group: Scott (Kerrie) and Philip (Reegan) Albright.

Patricia was a lover of antiques and opened an antique shop in a building on their property in Royalton Township. After retirement, her husband James worked with her in the family antique shop she started in the 1990s. Together, Patricia and James amassed a large collection of flow blue china, glassware, toys, cameras and anything old and interesting.

She will be greatly missed by her family and friends as she was a powerful force in keeping her family involved and in contact with one another.

Patricia is survived by her husband, James; sister, LuAnn Selby of Nashville; brother, Rolland Yeske of Benton Harbor; brother-in-law, Thomas Albright of Reading, Pa., and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Patricia was preceded in death by her parents; first husband, Michael Callender; granddaughter, Tricia Dykstra; daughter, Ellen Ireland; nephew, Kenny Williams; and brother-in-law, Chuck Callender.

A celebration of life service will be at 11 a.m. Monday, Dec. 1, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 619 Main St., St. Joseph, MI 49085. Burial will follow in North Shore Memory Gardens in Coloma. Friends may visit with the family on Monday from 10-11 a.m. at the church.

Memorials may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Joseph. Those wishing to share a memory of Patricia online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com.