11/4/2009 6:15:00 AM
Black Canyon City loses longtime philanthropist
‘I don’t know where this town would be...’
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Phil and Jeane Albins married in 1946, and both called each other their "best friend." This 2007 photo is at their home in Black Canyon City.
Bruce Colbert/File photo |
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By Bruce Colbert
Special to the BBN
Family and friends gathered Saturday at the Albins Family Memorial Park and Chapel in Black Canyon City to mourn longtime resident and community supporter Phil Albins.
After slipping into a coma two weeks ago, Albins, 88, of Black Canyon City died quietly on Oct. 26, 2009.
"He was comfortable," said Jeane, his wife of 63 years. "That's all I asked, that he be kept comfortable at the end."
Black Canyon City resident Bob Cothern said the chapel was filled to standing room only for Albins' memorial. Albins' son David and retired DPS officer and longtime BCC resident Chuck Torrie, among others, spoke about their memories of Albins.
After the the service, many friends and family members gathered at the Albins home for a barbecue.
The Albins are a legendary family in Black Canyon City.
Phil's father, Dimitri "D.J." John Albins, settled in the tiny hamlet of Cañon (now called Black Canyon City) in 1929 and started farming. His wife, Grace, and three young sons, Phil, Vladimir and Feodor, first lived in a tent at Bumble Bee.
Phil met Jeane in 1944 while he was in the Army Air Corps and she worked in a tomato-packing plant in Chowchilla, Calif. They
married in 1946 after his discharge from the Army.
"We met, and that was that," Jeane said. They moved to Phoenix in 1946 and "were poor as church mice."
Phil applied for a sales job at Farmers Insurance.
"He almost didn't get the job," Jeane said. "The district agent said Phil didn't talk enough. You can't sell insurance if you don't talk."
Within a year, Farmers named Phil the top salesman of the year. Eventually, he became a district manager. He sold his district and opened the Phil Albins Insurance Co.
In 1948, the Albins ventured into the real estate business. They bought and remodeled an old Army barracks in Phoenix.
"It was part of a Japanese internment camp during the war," Phil said in a 2007 interview. "We cut the building in half and built two apartments in one half and a two-bedroom home in the other half."
In 1971, Phil and Jeane permanently moved back to Black Canyon City. They bought some land from D.J.'s estate and opened a real estate business, calling it Albins Ranch, although they did not own a ranch.
In 1966, D.J. became the first Albins philanthropist when he donated two acres of land to build the Albins Civic Center. Phil and Jeane continued his philanthropy habit.
They donated land for the Black Canyon Fire Station; a community library; a VFW Hall; 10 acres for Cañon School; three acres for Grace Lutheran Church; and five acres for a Yavapai County Sheriff's substation.
In 2007, they donated 27 acres adjacent to their home along the Agua Fria River for a future Black Canyon Heritage Park.
"I don't know where this town would be if it wasn't for Phil and Jeane donating to so many worthy causes," Cothern said.
"People think we got our start from D.J., but we didn't," Jeane said in a previous interview. "Phil and I have worked for everything that we have ever received."
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