Al Stunzi
Born: May 21, 1940, in Saranac Lake
Died: February 25, 2014
Married: Barbara Wallace
Children: Maureen Stunzi and Mary Stunzi-Waterson
Albert E. Stunzi, was a son of August "Gus" and Mary (Kourofsky) Stunzi. He graduated from Saranac Lake High School in 1958 and completed a program in electrical engineering from Mohawk Valley Technical Institute. He married Barbara Wallace on Dec. 31, 1960; they had been voted "Class Couple" in 1957, the football player and his cheerleader, and they were married for 53 years.
He earned more than 45 trophies and medals as a speed skater in the early 1950s in races from Lake Placid to Berkshire Hills, Pennsylvania. He was a high school all-star in football, basketball, track and baseball. He had a lifetime interest in golf, having learned the game from his parents when he was young; he carried his clubs in the cab of his truck year round.
He worked for the United States Postal Service for 36 years in Saranac Lake and as postmaster in Ray Brook. In 1979, he was assigned to run the post office in the Olympic Village housing for athletes in Ray Brook, now the federal prison. During the 1980 Winter Olympic Games he got to meet many of the competitors and their trainers while helping them mail letters and packages to their home countries. He took his family to watch the medal ceremonies on Mirror Lake each evening. In 1996 he retired from the postal service and started work as a real estate agent, working for Ayres Real Estate Agency for almost 16 years.
He served on the local school board for several years, and was involved in the process of building the auditorium addition to the high school; he supported student music and sports activities from the time his daughters were in school in the '80s.
He was a member of St. Bernard's church, serving on the church board. He belonged to the Knights of Columbus and became a Eucharistic Minister so he could administer Holy Communion to hospitalized patients at the Adirondack Medical Center.
Source:
- Adirondack Daily Enterprise, [28, 2014]
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