In remembrance of Former Ferndale Mayor Albert Gertley 1927-2016
(Gary Gertley, son, Feb. 14, 2016)
Ferndale, MI – My dad, Albert Gertley passed away on Feburary 12, 2016 as a result of a massive stroke. He was 88 years old.
For now I wanted to write down what I remember about my dad’s life and I will update this if I learn more. He was born in Detroit, Michigan on the 4th of November, 1927. His father was Canadian and his mother was American. I remember him saying he had both Canadian and American citizenship until he was 18.
Dad served in both the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. Dad was on the Ferndale Police Force and the traffic safety officer. He also had a short weekly radio show on WEXL where he played music and talked about safety (“Your old pal Safety Al with the best in wax and safety facts.”) He would DJ some school dances He also was a police photographer and was called on to photograph accident scenes.
To help support his family he also used his photography skills to photograph weddings and to shoot photos for the Ferndale Gazzette and the Royal Oak Tribune. He taught my brother, Michael and myself about photography and we would accompany him to Ferndale High football and basketball games to take photographs with him.
After he retired as a police officer, he served on the Ferndale City Council and was elected as Mayor of Ferndale for three terms (1986-1992). He also served as court bailiff on the Ferndale Municipal Court.
Many Ferndale kids met him when he served as head of security at Ferndale High School.
My folks had a cottage in Kingsville, Ontario on Lake Erie in addition to their home in Ferndale and we spent many weekends at the cottage in Kingsville while we were growing up. Later in retirement, my folks sold their Ferndale house and spent more of their time in Kingsville.
Later, in order to simplify retirement life, my folks sold the Kingsville house and moved to Monroe, Washington to be near my brother Michael and myself.
Albert is survived by his wife Patricia, his kids Gary Gertley, Michael Gertley, Karen (Gertley) Stasik, and Jeff Gertley, his grandkids James Gertley, Theodore Gertley, Karl Stasik, Monika Stasik, Alina Stasik, Megan Gertley, Jeffrey Gertley Jr., Joshua Gertley, Jack Gertley and Michael Gertley.
The funeral home website with an online guestbook here: http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Albert-Gertley&lc=4170&pid=177705020&mid=6800210&locale=en_US
This story is presented without advertising due to the subject matter. Please support our sponsors at https://oaklandcounty115.com/sponsorshipadvertising/.