George Frederick Alban dies at 71

George Frederick "Fred" Alban, a retired security guard who earlier had been a police officer, died Monday of cancer at his Westminster home. He was 71.

Mr. Alban was born in Baltimore and spent his early years in Govans before moving to a Westminster farm with his family in 1952.

After graduating from St. John High School in 1955, he owned a painting business with a cousin. He also served in the Maryland National Guard before being discharged in 1963.

Mr. Alban joined the Westminster Police Department in 1967 and worked as a police officer, retiring with the rank of corporal in 1976.

He joined his father in the family business, Alban's Floor Service, where he worked for 26 years until retiring in 2002.

Mr. Alban and his father also owned and operated The Rappahannock, a Westminster seafood restaurant during the 1970s, until it was destroyed in a fire.

From 2002 until last year, when he retired, he was a security guard at the Court House in Westminster.

He was a member of Lodge 20 of the Fraternal Order of Police and the Westminster Civitan Club. He was also an avid woodworker.

"One of his big joys in life was eating seafood. He just loved it," said his daughter, Barbara Rodgers of Westminster.

His wife of many years, the former Angela "Patsy" Shaeffer, died in 2001.

He was a longtime communicant of St. John Roman Catholic Church, where he was an usher, served on the parish council, and had been a member of its building committee. Services were held there Friday.

Also surviving are two sons, Theodore "Ted" Alban of Towson and Thomas "Tom" Alban of Westminster; two brothers, Richard F. Alban of Phoenix, Baltimore County, and Michael P. Alban of Paw Paw, W.Va.; five grandchildren; and his fiance, Doris Eckenrode of Westminster.