Joseph Aloysius Albi (October 5, 1892 – May 8, 1962) was an American attorney and civic leader in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...

Early years

Born in Spokane, he was the son of Garibaldi and Louise (Ottoboni) Albi, immigrants from Italy who arrived in the city several years earlier. Garibaldi (1861–1923) was a railroad contractor, banker, and one of the founders of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

colony in the city. He and three brothers (James, John, William) arrived in Spokane in 1887. The eldest of seven children, Joe Albi was educated in Spokane schools and graduated from

Gonzaga College Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Ir ...

in 1911. He was accepted to the

Georgetown University Law School The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

in Washington, D.C., and graduated in 1915. He returned home to Spokane where he continuously practiced law until his illness, except for two years of military service in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

flying corps during World War I.

Athletic Round Table

Albi was a founder of the Athletic Round Table (ART), which led the effort to expand the presence of sports in the Spokane area. The fun-loving group was launched in 1920 (the start of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

) and the fast-talking Albi was its continuing president for 42 years. The ART was best known for funding the construction of Memorial Stadium, built in 1950 in under four months, and renamed

Joe Albi Stadium Joe Albi Stadium is a former outdoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, located in Spokane, Washington. In the northwest part of the city, just east of the Spokane River, it was primarily used for high school football, and as a secon ...

by the city council in the spring of 1962, several weeks before his death. In

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, the ART brought the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

to Spokane in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

at Manito Country Club and the

Esmeralda Open The Esmeralda Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was played in 1945 and 1947 in Spokane, Washington. It was held at Indian Canyon Golf Course, a municipal facility designed in 1930 by Chandler Egan on the west end of the city, and open ...

, which debuted in 1943 at Downriver and was a PGA Tour event at Indian Canyon in 1945 and 1947. It also helped establish the

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open, one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, W ...

, the first edition was played at the Spokane Country Club in 1946, won by

Patty Berg Patricia Jane Berg (February 13, 1918 – September 10, 2006) was an American professional golfer. She was a founding member and the first president of the LPGA. Her 15 major title wins remains the all-time record for most major wins by a fem ...

. The ART was also key to the construction of the Esmeralda Golf Course; it bought the land in east Spokane and deeded it back to the City of Spokane. The Spokane Women's Open on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of week ...

was held at the new course. The group also promoted senior golf, paving the way for the future

U.S. Senior Open The U.S. Senior Open is one of the five major championships in senior golf, introduced in 1980. It is administered by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and is recognized as a major championship by both the PGA Tour Champions and the Eu ...

and Champions Tour.

Congressional primary

In 1942, the 5th congressional seat was vacant, following the resignation of Democrat Charles H. Leavy on August 1 to become a judge on the U.S. District Court in western Washington. Albi, 49, announced his candidacy in late July. In the three-man Republican primary in September, he was runner-up to

Wenatchee Wenatchee ( ) is the county seat and largest city of Chelan County, Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925, and was estimated to have increased to 34,360 as of 2019. Located in the north-central part ...

fruit rancher Walt Horan, who went on to serve 22 years in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. Horan's victory in the general election was the first by a Republican in the district in twenty years.

Personal

Albi married the former Mazie Lyons (1896–1967) of Washington, D.C. in 1918 in

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, while he was in the Army. They had four children, Joseph A. Albi, Jr. (1920–1932), John Lionel Albi (1921–1923), Jaclyn Albi Flaherty (c.1923– ), and Jean Joseph (J.J) Albi (1927–2011). At the time of his death, Albi had eight grandchildren and his five surviving siblings all lived in Spokane. He was the Italian consul agent for

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

and

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Washington from 1929 to 1941, and was active in many local organizations including the American Legion,

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. Since 1987, the organizati ...

Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soci ...

, and

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

Death

Albi was afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease." He was hospitalized for his last seven weeks at Sacred Heart Hospital, and died at age 69. His widow Mazie died less than five years later in 1967; they are buried in Spokane in the family plot at Fairmount Memorial Park, adjacent to the west side of

Statue

A bronze statue of Joe Albi as a sports fan was unveiled in 1997 at Joe Albi Stadium. Seated several rows above the field in the southwest corner bleachers (), the slightly-larger-than-life Joe is often adorned in the school colors of competing teams.

References

External links

Historic Spokane.org
– Joe Albi's residence – 523 E. 12th Ave.
Gonzaga University Digital Collections
– Junior Yard Association baseball team 1909 – Joe Albi * {{DEFAULTSORT:Albi, Joe Lawyers from Spokane, Washington Gonzaga University alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni Washington (state) lawyers American lawyers and judges of Italian descent Neurological disease deaths in Washington (state) Deaths from motor neuron disease 1892 births 1962 deaths 20th-century American lawyers United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army officers