Alfred Chester Culbertson

Alfred Chester Culbertson, Jr.
In life sometimes God gives us some very special people. Someone who can bring laughter, give hope or maybe just a warm place to sleep. An individual who casts his problems or concerns aside.

Al was one of these people. Al was raised in a home with honest hard working loving parents. A home where everyone was equal and not labeled. The chores after school were shared between Al and his two little sisters. Al learned quickly that chores could be done faster and easier if you had four clothes pins, a clothes line and four pigtails.

Al probably would have preferred two puppies. A lot less trouble and more fun. But with both parents working, someone had to keep them in line. Besides when the weekend came there was always something fun; hunting, fishing and camping. Al loved these weekends, for some reason those girls weren’t so lucky. Maybe it was the fresh air or maybe dad used magic in them.

Taking care of two sisters you learn a lot of patience. But Al had more than patience, he had the gift to make people and give them a since of self-worth when they thought they had none.

Even when Al faced tough times. If someone needed help he put his worries aside and offered his help and a smile. He probably had a lot of practice of putting his problems out of the way so he could cover for those little sisters!

Al was dedicated to his parents and worked with his father until his health no longer allowed him to. He never went to see his mother without a secret surprise. She loved the flowers the most but the occasional trinket or frog was just as special.

His greatest joys in life came when he became a father and found out he had a daughter, and later another daughter and another. … all girls. Well he had a lot of practice taking care of girls. Just no clothes lines. More joy followed with 3 granddaughters but still no clothes line.

There were many things Al did; he took time with kids to show them that learning wasn’t just a mandatory thing but an adventure of the mind. Al loved to visit with the elderly, offer food to someone who hungry and giving shelter to someone who was cold or tired, or just taking the time to listen.

But what Al seemed to do best was the ability to make someone smile and know that they were someone special.

We will all miss Al in our own way but we should and can cherish what he left us with, the knowledge that love, kindness with respect for others does not cost anything but a little bit of your time and it is a lot easier than clothes pinning your sister’s braids to the clothes line because you knew that if mom caught you, you were sure to get hit with her shoe.

What a heart indeed he had a heart so big that it will surely be missed by so many that loved and cared for him.

A Funeral Mass for Alfred ‘Chester’ Culbertson was held at 10 AM Tuesday, April 20, 2000 at the St. Francis De Sales/Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. Interment followed at Fairmount Cemetery.

Casket bearers were Brody Doyle, Monico Granados, Dennis Luebbe, Brandon McCarty, Olan McCarty, Pat Melgosa, Curtis Miller and Steve Tutsch.

Chester was survived by his parents, Al Sr. and Josephine Culbertson of Lamar; daughters Crystal Duarte, Jennifer Culbertson and Jaclyn Culbertson; granddaughters Aubriana, Mercedes and Destiny Duarte; Sisters Stephanie Culbertson, Deborah (Dennis) Luebbe as well as a close friend Nancy Duarte as well as Aunts, Uncles, Nieces, Nephews and many Friends.