Albert Raymond Sprouse, age 97, of Columbus, formerly of Birmingham, died Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at Baptist Memorial Hospital " Golden Triangle. Graveside services, with Rev. Reid Crotty officiating, will be Friday, March 28, 2008 at 1:00pm at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham, AL. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at Johns-Ridouts Elmwood Chapel. He was born January 22, 1911 in Lamar County, Alabama to Alfred Cleveland Sprouse and Catherine Walden Sprouse. Raised on a farm, he also helped his father and other family members with saw mills and logging operations. This background led to his being recruited to work in the Panama Canal Zone during World War II. After the war he began to work in Birmingham for the Forestry Division of Tennessee Coal and Iron, which later became U.S. Steel. He worked there 28 years and retired in 1975. After retirement he and his wife, Claudine Vasser Sprouse, moved to Columbus to help care for his mother as her health declined. When she died, they returned to Birmingham to live. They were members of Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Hoover. As they aged, they realized they should live near relatives who could help them, so in 2005 they again moved back to Columbus. They were married 71 years before her death in November 2006. In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, Aline Robertson Beaman of Ft. Worth, TX and Georgie Lou McGee Jeffers of Columbus, a brother, Rev. A. Tillman Sprouse and his wife, Ann Sparks Sprouse, of Birmingham. Survivors include three nephews: L.C. McGee of Columbus, Bill Sprouse of Birmingham, AL, and Timothy Sprouse of Media, PA. Memorials may be made to Bluff Park United Methodist Church, 733 Valley Street, Hoover, AL, 35226 or Central United Methodist Church, 1201 College St., Columbus, MS, 39701.
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