Allan Bennett Wester Sr.

1923 - 2018

After 94 well-lived years of "fogging up the mirror," Big Al Wester passed away peacefully on February 7, 2018. Beloved husband of Barbara and predeceased by his first wife, Delores. Proud father of surviving children Allan "Rusty" Wester, Jr. (Sandra), Roger Wester (Pam), Randy Wester (Beth), Katie Wester-Neal (Zach), and Victoria Griggs (Smith) and stepfather to Sandy Coleman. Adoring grandfather and loving great-grandfather with a large blended family, including many brothers- and sisters-in-law. Born on September 15, 1923, Al served in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific as a pilot in World War II. Upon returning to the States, he made his way into sports broadcasting in the 1940s, spending some of his early years at WGTN in Georgetown, South Carolina and moving to New Orleans as the Sports Director and Announcer at WDSU-TV in its early years. Among his many experiences in broadcasting, Big Al was the original voice of the New Orleans Saints and the voice of Notre Dame football for 16 years, including their National Championship wins in 1973 and 1977. He was heard around the world on Mutual, NBC, CBS, Westwood One, and BBC networks in a career spanning more than 60 years. Al covered major and minor league baseball, college and professional football, college basketball, the Olympic games, professional boxing, Kentucky Derby and NASCAR races, and professional men's, women's, and senior tour golf, broadcasting more than 55 Masters tournaments. He won numerous professional awards, most notably the Babe Zaharias LPGA Journalism Award in 2002 and the Masters Major Achievement Award in 2007. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Al's honor to one of his favorite organizations: St. Paul's Episcopal School Endowment Fund, 6249 Canal Blvd., New Orleans, La., 70124, or Change4Charlie.org, a charity that supports a cure for MECP2 Duplication Syndrome, a disorder that affects Al's grandson, Charlie. A celebration of Al's life is planned for Saturday, March 10, 2018 at 2pm, at the home of Randy and Beth Wester; please contact WesterCelebrationOfLife@gmail.com for more information. A private inurnment will be held at Metairie Cemetery in June 2018. To view and sign the family guestbook, please visit www.lakelawnmetairie.com.