But to the Stevens clan, Albert Habhab was family. Plain and simple family. For 70 years. And he always will be family for years far beyond his death last Saturday at the age of 98.

Al met my dad, Walter Stevens, when he moved with our family to Fort Dodge in 1954 to become editor of The Messenger. The two World War II veterans hit it off immediately. When Al decided to run for mayor, he told dad in a newspaper interview that he planned to serve no more than four years. It ended up 14 years, and he never heard the last of that from his editor friend.

Their friendship continued through the years and when my mom and dad moved to Friendship Haven and could no longer drive, Al and his wife Janet began a tradition of picking them up and driving them to Sunday morning breakfast at the Village Inn, always choosing the same booth.

Al and dad loved talking politics – both were Republicans. And they shared the bond of their war years in Europe, although both initially were reluctant to reveal much detail.

“Tell him about Kingsbury, Albert,” his wife, Janet, said when I got them to sit down to tape an interview about their lives that we converted into a book.

Arthur Kingsbury was the soldier Al saved on Dec. 16, 1944, and Al proceeded to relate the details of that day, pausing in tears several times.

When my mom died in 2011, Al and Janet were there for dad. Al loved telling the story of how he could make his friend smile – by showing him a family photo taken outside Corpus Christi Church of dad’s great-granddaughter Sophie sitting on his lap with the family surrounding them.

And on that July day in 2013 when dad took his last breath in his room at Friendship Haven’s Simpson Health Center (named in honor of Al’s good friends Lin and John Simpson), Al had just visited him and was the last person to see him alive.

My wife Linda and I, and when possible, our children and grandchildren, have since visited the Habhabs at least once a year and always made a lunch stop at the Community Orchard part of our visit. When Janet died in 2022, Al asked me to say a few words about her at the church services. I was honored. I felt like I was representing my dad.

Al was optimistic about making 100 years of age even in a phone call we had weeks before his death. He loved telling us that he had made reservations at the Orchard for his 100th birthday celebration on Sept. 6, 2025. We vowed to be there – and we will, God willing, to celebrate the life of this remarkable man.

And when it comes to a toast on that day, we plan to borrow from Al’s practice of reciting an old Irish blessing before each time we had a lunch or dinner:

“May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of his hand.”

Amen, Al. Amen.