Albert Clayton Read, Jr., age 64, of Shingleton, Michigan died unexpectedly at his home early on Thursday morning, November 23, 2006. He was born on June 20, 1942 in Fremont, Michigan to the late Albert and Abby (nee Sprague) Read, Sr. He grew up attending St. Peter & St. Paul Catholic Church and graduated from Ionia High School in 1959. Al joined the U.S. Navy and served as a hospital corpsman and on the U.S.S. Independence in the early 1960’s. He worked for MDOT in their design department in Lansing and then transferred to the Upper Peninsula and worked as an Engineer Technician Inspector. Al retired from MDOT. He married Wilma Louise Wicker on May 31, 1974. Al and Wilma attended Sacred Heart Church. He enjoyed bowling, his computer, and he loved the Detroit Lions and Tigers through thick and thin. Al was a hard working man and although he may have seemed outspoken and a straight shooter, he was a real marshmallow. He loved to pick on his in-laws and tease them with his special sarcasm. Al expected others to work as hard as he did, and didn’t cut much slack to those around him, but did he ever have a soft spot for his grandchildren! He adored and spoiled his grandchildren, great grandchildren, and his nieces and nephews.

Al is survived by his wife of over thirty-two years – Wilma Read of Shingleton; three children – Susan (Curtis) Murray of Perry, FL, Albert C. (Angela) Read III of Hope, MI, and Heather (Naresh) Nayak of San Mateo, CA; grandchildren – Jamie (Grant) Archer, Curtis Murray III, Clayton Murray, Alayna Garza, Spencer Read, and Anirudh, Sidarth, and Megan Nayak; great-grandson – Nathan Archer; brothers – John (Rose) Read of Orleans, MI, Tom (Icylynn) Read of Saranac, MI, and Dick (Karen) Read of Ionia; sisters – Judy (Darb) Cronk of Ionia, Maggie (Jim) Rogers and Ann (Dietmar) Krumery all of Manistiqe; in-laws – Dawn Read of Ionia, Jean Tweedale of Chatham, Steve (Dar) Richardson of Escanaba, Shirley Wicker, Don (Bonnie) Richardson, Kris (Wally) Bower, Lesa Richardson, and Bob Richardson all of Shingleton; numerous nieces and nephews; and his pride and joy Miss Daisy the calico cat. Al was preceded in death by his parents and brothers Raymond, Roger, and Jimmy Stephen Read

Services for Al will be held at the Bowerman Funeral Home on Tuesday, November 28, 2006. Visitation will be from 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. A clergyman from Sacred Heart Church will conduct his funeral in the funeral home’s chapel at 3:30 p.m. Interment will be at the Munising Township Cemetery in Wetmore.