Michael Albano:
CLASS OF 1969
Edsel Ford High SchoolClass of 1969
Dearborn, MI
Dearborn High SchoolClass of 1969
Dearborn, MI
O.L. Smith Middle SchoolClass of 1966
Dearborn, MI
Oxford Elementary SchoolClass of 1963
Dearborn, MI
Oxford SchoolClass of 1963
Dearborn, MI
Michael's Story
Recent Updates
During the times many of us grew up in Dearborn, the 50's and 60's, thanks to the generosity of Ford Motor Company and the genius of Orville Hubbard we had FAR more than any other city. Then and to this day, despite it's age, Dearborn still has far more than any other city. That's a fact and if you don't believe it check it out on the internet as I have. We had Camp Dearborn, the best recreation, 8 outdoor swimming pools, Seashore (I miss that pool), 8 outdoor free skating and hockey rinks, more shopping in districts that most everone from surrounding cities visited, the cleanest city in America, the wonderful Youth Center, dances in the summer on the Dearborn High and Ford Woods tennis courts and every activity to keep us in supervised activities. All of it and more was free to all of us. Dearborn, thanks to Hubbard, was a babysitter for many of our parents by keeping us in those supervised activities and keeping most of us out of trouble. We also had the best educational system in the nation, bar none.
Many of our parents came from a "working persons background" and our parents were most always there for us. Many of our fathers worked in hard, thankless jobs to make sure we had far more than they ever had and they never complained. Our mothers were home and worked their tails off being housekeepers and babysitters to us. There were few, if any divorces because people toughed it out in most cases and kept the family together. Neighbors were like family and a 2nd sets of parents. Other than all the ample blessings Dearborn gave us, most of us didn't grow up with much in the way of material objects, we grew up in houses that were very small, but very functional, not in houses that were mansions like ones today. But due to our community's and neighbors involvment, we felt that we had plenty. We were blessed. Many of us have either gone on to wonderful, much better careers than our parents had or ended up being wonderful people. Few of us failed thanks to good old Orvie, the best corporate benefactor to a city that ever existed - Ford Motor Company and all the wonderful people that got involved in our community and our lives. To me, Dearborn will always be more than just a city, it is a wonderful community one should be proud of to have grown up in and/or to still reside in...
Despite how high up I went in the wireless industry, no matter what big fancy home or car(s) I drove, I never, ever forgot my roots. And to this day, because I feel I owe them, I drive Fords and only Ford products. I love to meet people from all walks of life and having dealt with some of the highest corporate stars one could imagine, I've always felt more comfortable around the middle class working stiffs. I'm not impressed by titles, money or status. What impresses me most is someone that does a job to the best of their ability and is a good family person, neighbor and friend. I don't care if they're driving a garbage truck or working at McDonalds, if they love what they do or they have to do it to survive, then I have a lot of respect for them.
I'll always be that middle-class kid who was the son of a meat truck driver - the man who made me into the person I am, with parents that sacrificed everything for us. Now that wonderful man has passed on and is driving a truck in Heaven. I have a sentimentality for the city and people I grew up with and went to school with that is unsurpassed.
Life
When I go all over the city of Dearborn today people are still as friendly as they used to be 30-50 years ago. The neighborhoods still are well manicured, the recreational facitilies are unbeatable, even better than when I grew up there, and despite some of the services being eliminated, Dearborn still has far more services than Beverly Hills, Bel Air, any of the Gross Pointes, more than any other city in America. And the cost of living in Dearborn is still a bargain, especially when you compare it to most other Metro Detroit cities and California cities. I have friends from other surrounding cities and most pay as much or far more in taxes, and when I tell and/or show them how much Dearborn has they cannot believe it. It's still a bargain and a blessing to live in this city.
School
Edsel Ford High School mentors that inspired me were Jon Davis (RIP) & Pat Wyka my baseball coaches, Neal Brown (RIP) my English teacher, probably one of the best teachers I've ever had, and wonderful Principal Fred Schreiber, who was also my assistant principal at O.L. Smith Jr. High. Neal Brown was the teacher that I felt had the most interesting classes because he encouraged us to read, especially the newspaper and current events and he always encouraged open discussion without being judgmental. He always had a smile on his face and was a total class act. I don't believe anyone walked out of his classes without learning plenty and he was always such a gentleman. Certainly a fine man worth emula...Expand for more
ting, a wonderful role model.
O.L. Smith mentors were gym teachers Dick Clements and Dick Angelo, 2 of my favorite gym teachers and the coolest gym teachers ever. I remember Dick Clements always telling us jokes in Health class and Dick Angelo still looks like he's 30. Other awesome teachers were Mr. Goebel, Mr. Wagner and Mr. Stollsteimer. They were tough on us, but they did it with the best of intentions and I'll never forget all I learned from these fine teachers.
Oxford Elementary favorites were my kindergarden teacher Miss Healy, who was a riot and a sweet lady, Mr. Cybert, who ran his classroom like a Marine barracks and wonderful principal Kathleen Cotter, RIP, who later went on to lead Dearborn Schools. I spent many a day in Miss Cotters office when she was the principal, and even though she was close friends with my best friends family, she always treated me with the utmost TLC, even when I was not being so good, which was often in those days.
These people were some of the most dedicated, well mannered, strictest, but fairest people I've ever known. And there were SO many fine teachers, coaches and administrators in the Dearborn school system it is hard to remember and/or name all of them. I can't even think of one teacher that was NOT a good teacher. It took me many adult years later to realize what a major, positive impact they all had on our lives. These people were Dearborn's finest AND America's finest...
I don't know about doing it all over again, but it was fun during those days. And I sure do wish I had my 1965 GTO back to run, as my new Mustang is nice, but hardly an original like the GTO. And I miss the athletic days when I was an EFHS southpaw pitcher and a hockey player. Recently I received lost baseball articles about our EFHS baseball team from 1968 to 1969. It amazed me at what a great team we were and how we won the City Of Dearborn Championship the 1st time in the schools history. Those were very happy times of our lives and probably what one would call for many of us, our 15 minutes of fame.
I remember class act Ted Grigon, our quarterback, who can you believe, lead the EFHS football team to 3, yes 3 undefeated seasons. All 3 years he attended high school we were undefeated and Ted was only around 5'8" tall. What a great role model and nice guy if you knew him.
College
Henry Ford Community College, grade 13, as we called it. I remember going working late into the evenings, then going out all night to the New Place Lounge and Bimbo's and then going to HFCC for morning classes. How I ever did it I'll never know. But it was fun back then when we had the stamina and THOUGHT we were invincible. I used to sit in the lobby of the Liberal Arts Building, when I was supposed to be studing, and just sit there and watch people.
Workplace
In 12th grade co-op, where you went to school in the morning and to work in the afternoon, I worked at Reddy Drapes and was in the window rearranging the window displays. Along comes Kristi Lowry, Fratman's sister, and a girlfriend of hers and they both sang to me, "How much is that doggie in the window, I do hope that doggie's for sale". People walking by on the sidewalk gathered around and laughed. I was SO embarassed. But when I think of it now it makes me laugh because it was real cute and VERY innovative.
Out of high school I worked a variety of jobs that I believe made me a pretty well-rounded person. I was a process server, a security guard and sometimes private investigator. From 1973 through 1983 I worked at Ford's Dearborn Research and Engineering Center, where I worked a variety of jobs, janitor, clerk, crib attendant, yard maintenance and foreman.
In June 1983 I moved to California and got into the wireless business where I started out as a sales rep, then manager and eventually owner of my own wireless business. Prior to owning my own business, I specialized in wireless takeovers, mergers, turnarounds and opened up an founded a number of wireless companies for other owners.
Military
Luckily for me, I was never in the military during the Vietnam War era. Our high school lost a lot of fine men in that war and I'll never forget one of them, good old Chuck Hanselman who died a hero trying to save other American soldiers. He watched over us when he was a 12th grader when we were 10th graders and I never forgot his kindness and thoughtfulness. RIP Chuck and all the other wonderful young men that gave their lives so we could live in the greatest country in the world. So many of these young men were unselfish and I am proud to have know the ones that died in the Vietnam War and proud to know the them. And even though I know we need to fight terrorism across the world to protect our shores, every time an American soldier dies it saddens me and when I see some of their families tell their stories I get all choked up. Because of them we live in the greatest country in the world, bar none.
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