Albert Anderson Creed

Augusta, Ga – Albert Anderson Creed
Albert Anderson Creed died peacefully at his residence in Augusta, Georgia on Tuesday, July 21, 2020 after a courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Al was born in Augusta on November 13, 1925, to Euly Cleveland Creed, Sr. and Ellen Gertrude Griffin Creed. He was part of a generation that left a powerful legacy, often described as “America’s Greatest Generation.” Throughout his long life Al was a well-liked, loyal, hard-working, patriotic, family man.
A child of the great depression, Al learned early the value of work. Unlike many others, his family didn’t suffer extreme financial hardship during the depression because his father was a railroad engineer and the trains continued to run, but money was not wasted in the Creed household. If Al wanted frivolous things he was expected to earn them. He started passing out flyers on foot when he was eight years old. By the time he was 12 he had earned enough to buy a Schwinn bicycle, making it possible for him to have a paper route. He liked throwing papers but many of his customers were not able to pay when he went to collect, so he went to work for Western Union, becoming a delivery clerk at the age of 15. His strong work-ethic continued throughout his life; he finally retired at the age of 82.
Al’s life was not all work during his childhood and teen years, he had fond memories of playing at May Park as a small child where there was always adult supervision and planned activities. He also loved swimming in the ponds at Merry’s brickyard while trying not to disturb the snakes; playing with his cousin’s electric train set and its “miles and miles” of extra track that extended from room to room in his aunt’s home; and the excitement of being invited by his Dad to ride along on real trains, testing newly reconditioned engines for short runs on the main line. As a teen Al was very active in social dancing, DeMolay, the Triangle Club, the debating team, organized sports, his high school studies, his jobs, and his long-time membership in troop 19 of the Boy Scouts of America. Due to the above activities, Al decided to drop out of scouting during his junior year of high school, ending any chance of becoming an Eagle Scout like his older brother. Years later Al would say that was the only time in his life that he knew his father was disappointed in him.
Swimming was Al’s favorite sport, and due to some rigorous training he received from the American Red Cross and the YMCA, he became a certified lifeguard when he was 15. That prepared him for his position as head lifeguard at Lake Olmstead during the summers of 1941 and 1942. Many stories of Al’s high school years were published in the Augusta Chronicle, including descriptions of costumes and decorations for dances and parties. Those were much-deserved carefree years for teens that had grown up during the great depression, but the carefree years would not last. World War II intervened, calling a halt to the extravagant dances and parties they had once enjoyed. In fact, in an effort to conserve paper for the war effort, Al’s senior class did not have a yearbook when they graduated.
The Academy of Richmond County was still an all-male military school when Al graduated on May 26, 1942; he was 16 years old. After graduation he enrolled in some classes at Augusta Junior College, but with an uncertain future it was unrealistic to set concrete goals for his education; there simply wouldn’t be time to complete anything.
At the height of WWII, Al enlisted in the U. S. Navy on 23 September 1943. He was 17; just two months shy of his 18th birthday. He had wanted be a pilot, but his color blindness was detected during boot camp and that kept him out of flight school. Instead, he went to radio school in Memphis, Tennessee and then to Gunnery School at Banana River, Florida. Finally, he was stationed at Brunson Field in Pensacola, Florida, serving as an aviation radio gunner in a PBY Squadron, patrolling the Caribbean Sea for enemy submarines. When the war in Europe started winding down, Al was sent to San Diego, California for training as a radio gunner on SP2C dive bombers. After completing that training he was on his way to Coronado, California to join a squadron aboard the carrier vessel Bon Homme Richard in the Pacific theater. That is when fate intervened: Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan’s compliance with the terms of surrender in the summer of 1945. Al’s orders were changed; with eight months left on his enlistment, he was sent to Great Lakes, Illinois where he was given a desk job, out-processing sailors until he had completed his active duty.
With his honorable discharge from the United States Navy in hand, Al pursued college degrees on the G. I. Bill beginning in 1946 and ending in 1951. Because it had been several years since he had graduated from high school, he took some refresher courses at Augusta Junior College, now Augusta University, before enrolling at Spring Hill College, a Jesuit school in Mobile, Alabama. After one semester at Spring Hill he transferred to Emory University in Atlanta, graduating in 1949 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology and chemistry. In 1949 Al enrolled in graduate school at the University of Georgia in Athens, pursuing a Master’s Degree in bio-chemistry. He completed his studies in 1951 and accepted a position with Parke Davis Pharmaceuticals, working in Ann Arbor, Michigan as a chemist, but after a couple of years in the lab Al became aware of how much more he could earn in the sales department, so he transferred there. Parke Davis moved him to Knoxville, Tennessee, Charlotte, North Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida as a pharmaceutical sales representative. It was in Jacksonville that Al met the love of his life, Linda Lou Clark. They married ten months after they met.
Eventually, Al was wooed away from Parke Davis by a Swedish pharmaceutical and bio technological company, Pharmacia. Initially he enjoyed traveling to Sweden and Canada, learning about a new blood primer the company was launching, but the abundance of travel while covering five southeastern states as a hospital man eventually became tedious. Pharmacia had moved Al, Linda and their son, Todd, to Orlando, FL, a somewhat sleepy town at that time, before Disney located there. Al left home every Monday morning and returned Friday evening, and life on the road was lonely. In 1968 Al made the decision to leave the pharmaceutical industry and enter the life insurance business, making it possible for him to spend time with his family during the week.
Al’s commitment to his new career was intense. He earned the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) degree from the American College of Life Underwriters and qualified every year for the Million Dollar Roundtable, the National Quality Award and the National Sales Achievement Award. After their daughter, Alyson, was born, Al was presented with an opportunity to underwrite life insurance for American military personnel stationed in Germany. He and Linda jumped at the chance to live abroad, and spent eight wonderful years traveling, taking their children on every trip. They swam in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas, skied in the Austrian Alps, rode camels in Egypt and donkeys in Spain, golfed in the Canary Islands, crossed the English Channel on a hovercraft, walked through the Garden of Gethsemane, the tulip fields of Holland, the Acropolis in Greece, the Colosseum in Italy, the Baalbek Temple complex in Lebanon, visited hundreds of castles, palaces, cathedrals and Mosques in Europe, Africa and Asia minor. During those years Al still found time to lead the agency in sales every year, and serve as president of the European Association of Life Underwriters.
In 1977 Al moved his family back to the states, settling in his home town of Augusta where he and Linda finished rearing their children. They joined Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church where Al served terms as president of the “Becomers” Sunday school class, superintendent of Sunday schools, a Deacon and later an Elder. Al continued his career in the life insurance business, served as President of the Augusta Chapter of Chartered Life Underwriters and instructed courses for the Life Underwriters Training Council, finally retiring from business in 2008. During retirement he continued his lifelong passion for reading and travel, golfing, politics, following his beloved Georgia Bulldogs on autumn Saturday afternoons, and enjoying life’s simple pleasures with Linda.
Al is survived by his loving wife, Linda Clark Creed, his son and daughter-in-law, Todd Clark Creed and Frances McGinnis Creed and his grandson, Tanner Claiborne Creed, all of Fruit Cove, FL; his granddaughter and namesake, Anderson Creed Jenkins of Savannah, GA; and his son-in-law, Larry Don Jenkins of Pooler, GA. He was preceded in death by his beloved daughter, Alyson Creed Jenkins and his grandson, Tyler Clark Creed, both of whom died much too young.
From his former marriage, Al is survived by his daughters, Patricia Creed Braswell (Wayne) of Midlothian, VA and Dr. Marcia Creed King (John) of Fernandina Beach, FL; a granddaughter, Devon Braswell Hamlett (David), and a great-granddaughter, Harper Grace Hamlett, all of Henrico, VA. He was predeceased by his daughter, Karen Ann Creed.
In keeping with the practice of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, a graveside service will be held at Westover Memorial Park, Saturday, July 25, 2020 at 11 am, 2601 Wheeler Road, Augusta, GA. The Reverend Dr. Robert Leslie Holmes will officiate. The family will greet friends immediately after the service.
The family wishes to thank Ms. Pamela Morgan Williams for her compassionate care during Al’s illness. Gratitude is also extended to Al’s Home Based Primary Care Team with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, his therapy team with Amedisys Home Health, his aides with Home Help Companions and his MSA Hospice team for the kindness and care they provided, making it possible for Al to be at home with Linda until he was released into the loving arms of God.
If so desired, memorial donations in Al’s honor may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at act.alz.org/donate.
Thomas Poteet & Son Funeral Directors, 214 Davis Rd., Augusta, GA 30907 (706) 364-8484. Please sign the guestbook at www.thomaspoteet.com