Almet Norval “Al” Broadhead II of Jamestown died at his home on April 27, 2016, at the age of 94. Great-grandson of one of Jamestown’s early industrialists, William Broadhead, Almet was born Oct. 18, 1921, to William Almet Broadhead and Marion (Bentley) Broadhead, the fourth of their five children, and their only son.
Almet married his high school sweetheart, Marjorie Sauerbrunn, in 1947 and together they had two children: Allison Saxe and William Almet II. After Marge’s death in 1996, Almet married Norma Winslow. Norma also preceded Almet in death in 2009.
Almet graduated from Jamestown High School in 1940 and attended the University of Michigan before his military service. He served in the Pacific theater in WWII as an Army engineer. After the war, he graduated from Syracuse University, where he earned his degree in accounting.
Almet began his career with Ernst & Ernst in Buffalo but returned to Jamestown to stay in 1955. He worked as an accountant and financial officer in a number of area businesses and was the treasurer of Chautauqua Institution in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Almet was a very private man. Close friends delighted in his dry sense of humor and his love of puns, and were often startled when political incorrectness clashed with quiet civility in his conversation. He was a man of integrity. He demonstrated a sense of community and a willingness to serve. Almet volunteered as treasurer or director of several area nonprofit organizations during his long career and continued in retirement as a volunteer tax return preparer well into his 80s.
Almet loved Chautauqua Lake and the surrounding region. For most of his long life he was an avid and accomplished sailor, racing his E-Scow on Chautauqua Lake and at regattas elsewhere in the east. He was an active member of the Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club and served in various leadership positions including commodore. Almet was a long-time member of the Sportsmen’s Club in Stow, the Jamestown Kiwanis Club, and Mount Moriah Lodge in Jamestown. For his entire life, he was a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Jamestown, where he served as treasurer and as a member of the vestry. For many years, a highlight of his life was regularly attending the 10 o’clock Coffee Club with a number of his dear friends, including high school classmates.
Almet is survived by his children, Allison Saxe of New York, N.Y., and Skip Broadhead (Carol MacKinnon) of Tacoma, Wash.; and four grandchildren: Madeleine Saxe of Santa Monica, Calif., Adam Saxe of Chicago Ill., and Elizabeth and Sarah Broadhead of Tacoma, Wash.
The funeral will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, in St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. The Rev. Luke F. Foder will officiate. Burial will be in Lake View Cemetery.Friends will be received from 4-6 p.m., Friday, in the Lind Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorials be made to the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, 418 Spring St., Jamestown, NY 14701.
Click here to DONATE in memory of Almet Broadhead to the Marjorie S. Broadhead Memorial Fund.
Published in The Post Journal, April 29,2016
