Volcanoes Park superintendent had ‘storied career’

Stanley T. Albright, a former Hawaii Volcanoes National Park superintendent and ranger who spent 42 years in the park service in postings from Alaska to Washington, D.C., died yesterday in Oregon.

He was 74 and died in his sleep after a long illness, according to a news release from the National Park Service.

"Stan had a storied career with the NPS," said friend and colleague Bob Peterson, a former deputy regional director. "He served in some of the finest places on earth, breaking trail in some of the new areas for the service."

Albright was a nephew of National Park Service co-founder Horace Albright and, like his uncle, made the park service his career.

He was born in Oakland, Calif., grew up in Bishop, Calif., and served in the Army during the Korean War.

Albright joined the park service after graduating from the University of California-Los Angles in 1958.

He worked at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park as a ranger early in his career and served later as superintendent.

His other postings included Yosemite National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, the Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park.

Albright served as state director for Alaska in the 1970s and is credited with helping in the planning and establishment of new national parks there.

In 1987 he became associate director for management and operations in Washington, D.C., before returning to California as Western regional director for 10 years during a time of flat budgets and the creation of Death Valley National Park.

Before retiring in 2000, Albright moved to Yosemite National Park as superintendent, determined to get the park back into shape after winter floods in 1997.

"He created an atmosphere of warmth and humor; he trusted his staff; he was a skilled teacher; and he insisted on taking seriously the mission of the National Park system," said North Cascades National Park Superintendent Bill Paleck. "It was a very rare opportunity to work for a guy like that."

Albright is survived by wife Kris, son Sean and stepson Jon.

No services are planned. Donations suggested to the Stanley T. Albright Scholarship at the Yosemite Institute, which brings young people to the parks, and to the Willamette Falls Hospice in Oregon City, Ore.