Albert Otto

Albert Joseph Otto, age 85, died Friday, May 22, 2009 at Silver Bluff Nursing Home. Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan on January 13, 1924, he was raised there and later in St. Petersburg, Florida. The son of the late William Henry Otto and Gladys Opal Kelley Otto, who moved to Maggie Valley in 1945, Al served during World War II in the United States Marine Corps as Sergeant in the telephone corps with long-range artillery units in the Pacific Theater. Upon discharge from the Marines, he walked from Waynesville bus station to Campbell Creek Road in Maggie Valley, arriving at 4:00 a.m. at his parents' home. A graduate of Emory University with a Bachelors of Science, he subsequently received a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, a Masters in Biology from Hopstra University and a Masters of Arts in Human Resources Management from Pepperdine University. He studied for a PH.D. from Dropsie College of Hebrew and Cognate Learning. He joined the Navy in September, 1953 as the first Plymouth Brethren Assemblies chaplain and retired as a Commander on June 30, 1980, his final shipboard assignment being the U.S.S. Saratoga. After a medically induced retirement, he lived in Wheaton, Illinois, Keystone Heights, Florida, and Maggie Valley, NC. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one sister, Evelyn Otto Buchanan. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Elizabeth Colgan Otto; one daughter, Mary Otto Selzer, of Cullowhee; two brothers, Charles Wesley Otto and Abraham Franklin Otto both of Florida; and many nephews, nieces and their families. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, May 29, 2009 in the Waynesville Christian Fellowship Church with Clayton Davis officiating. A committal service will be in Green Hill Cemetery conducted by Reverend Michael Otto with military rites being performed by the United States Navy. The family will receive friends from 9:30 until 10:50 a.m. prior to the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Gideon International - Haywood West Camp, P.O. Box 634, Waynesville, NC 28786 or to the Jackson County Public Library Complex Building Fund, FOL, P.O. Box 825, Sylva, NC 28779. Wells Funeral Home of Waynesville is in charge of the arrangements.

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