Obituary of Clifford (Cliff) (Elias) Lee Albers

Clifford died unexpectedly of a Hemorrhagic Stroke on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, CA. He was born March 15, 1933, in Bluffs, IL, the son of Harold and Mae (Little) Albers. Clifford attended thirty schools throughout the Midwest before graduating in 1952 from South Vermillion High School in Clinton, IN. Within the next year he met and fell in love with Betty Louise Kolb. They were married on September 27, 1953. Three weeks following their wedding, Clifford was drafted into the US Army. Following basic training, he was shipped overseas to Germany where he served as a medic in the US Army Medical Corp. Cliff and Betty lived in Terre Haute, IN where Victor Lee Albers and Debra Louise Albers were born. Cliff discovered his love for driving big eighteen wheelers and began hauling gasoline for Gulf Oil Corporation. He and his family were transferred to Evansville, IN, where he also briefly attended a local community college. Two years later the family was transferred again to the Indianapolis area where they lived for over twenty-six years. Cliff drove a gasoline tanker for thirty-two years before an injury put an end to his career. He was a longtime member of the Teamsters Union Local 135 in Indiana. Family has been the most important thing to Clifford. With both his children living in the Santa Cruz area, he and Betty moved out to join them in September 1988. They settled into the Vista del Lago community in Scotts Valley. After forty-five years of marriage, Clifford lost Betty to cancer in 1999. The loss was devastating and sudden. Some years later Cliff was fortunate to find love again at a chance meeting in front of Long’s Pharmacy in Scotts Valley. He became reacquainted with Shirley Mae Shores. They began dating and married in April 2008. Clifford loved to be around people. He never met a stranger he didn’t like and had a huge heart. He was also very quick with a joke, although sometimes the listener would turn red. Some of Cliff's other interests included playing pinochle, either with friends or at the Scotts Valley Community Center, enjoying a game of pool or shuffleboard, or taking a swim with his grandkids at the Vista del Lago Clubhouse. Clifford is survived by his wife of fifteen years, Shirley Mae (Shores) Albers; his children, Victor Lee Albers and wife Leanne, Debra Louise (Albers) Franck and husband Stephen; his grandchildren, Patrick Grube, Katrina Grube, John Franck, Joshua Franck, Elizabeth Franck, and David Franck and wife Anna; his great-grandchildren, Emerson Grube, Alder Schickenberg, and Adria Schickenberg; his brother, Robert Leroy Albers and wife Elaine; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Ralph and Joan (Kolb) Talent; his sister-in-law, Katherine (Kolb) Uahinui; several nieces and nephews; and his cat Thunder. Clifford is preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Mae Albers, his wife of forty-five years Betty Louise (Kolb) Albers, and several aunts, uncles, and cousins. Trisagion Prayers will be held Friday, February 3, 2023, at 7:00 PM at Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, 9980 Highway 9, Ben Lomond. Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, February 4, 2023, at 10:00 AM at Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Ben Lomond. Interment to follow at Felton Cemetery, Felton Empire Rd, Felton. There will be a Mercy Meal immediately following the interment in the Saints Peter and Paul Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers, the family asks you make a donation in memory of Clifford to the Parkinson's Foundation.