Alben F. Carlson Jr.

CARLSON Alben F. Carlson, Jr. was born in Buffalo, New York, on August 24, 1928, and died on Friday, August 17, 2007. He was the son of Alben and Ruth Carlson of Walled Lake, Michigan. Educated as a Mechanical and Industrial Engineer at the University of Michigan, he began his career in the automotive industry at General Motors and then at Chrysler. In 1962, Mr. Carlson moved his family to Bay Saint Louis to work in the NASA Apollo program at the Michoud Test Facility. The highlight of his career was his role in America's race to space. He had the opportunity to meet every astronaut and U.S. President of that time. In 1976, he changed careers and became a stockbroker with Merrill Lynch, where he worked in the New Orleans and later the Gulfport offices until his retirement in 1990. Mr. Carlson was passionate about music, singing (especially barbershop quartet) and drama. He participated in many Bay Saint Louis Little Theater musicals and plays including Music Man, South Pacific, and Cactus Rose. He loved Dixieland Jazz and enjoyed trips to New Orleans to attend festivals and other musical events. Mr. Carlson was a long-time member of Christ Episcopal Church and later Trinity Church Episcopal. He sat on the vestry and the Christ Episcopal School Board, and was a member of the Church choir. After the original Carroll Avenue Christ Episcopal church was destroyed by Hurricane Camille in 1969, he climbed under the debris to rescue the twisted processional brass cross. The cross was sent around the country to raise money and awareness of Camille's destruction and the spirit of rebirth of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The cross sat on the baptismal font of the rebuilt South Beach Boulevard church until it was lost in Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Carlson is survived by three daughters: Susan Carlson Boudreaux of Pass Christian, Alane Carlson Young of Pass Christian, Cheryl Carlson Goodnow of Norwell, Massachusetts; eight grandchildren; and his former wife Ruth. Services will be held at Trinity Church Episcopal in Pass Christian, MS on Monday, August 20, 2007 at 10:00 a.m., with interment following at Live Oaks Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers contributions to the Trinity Church Building Fund.