Albert Hadden Cloud Jr.'s Obituary
Albert Hadden Cloud Jr. went to be with his Lord on April 24, 2023. He was 96 years old. Al was born November 28, 1926, to the late Albert Hadden Cloud Sr. and Sara Elizabeth Sherrod Cloud in Monroe, La. The family moved around often when he was young, with Al attending 11 elementary schools. At each one, his past learning was tested, and he was promoted two grades above his age. He graduated from Ouachita High School at age 15. While in high school, he won the Louisiana state rapid calculation competition twice and the state civics competition once. He also was on his school’s debate squad. After high school, he attended Northeast Louisiana Junior College for two years before volunteering to join the U.S. Navy, as World War II had just begun. The age to enter the military was 18, except for the Navy which was accepting 17-year-olds.
The military tests people to find out their strengths. Because he had had some accounting courses in college and due to his winning the rapid calculation competition, Al was placed in the Supply Corps and was sent to Supply Corps training in Georgia. There, his leadership potential was recognized, and he was sent to Harvard University which had an area reserved to train young officers before they were deployed. Because World War II was raging, all that training was expedited, and he was deployed as an 18-year-old Ensign aboard the USS Sargent Bay (CVE 83), a small aircraft carrier that operated in the Pacific Ocean. His title was quartermaster, so he ordered all the ships’ supplies and oversaw the payroll for every person on the ship. He stayed on the ship until the war ended and returned home in August 1946, at age 19. He and his longtime sweetheart, Emily Anne (Biddy) Royce, married just two months later. When he was released to inactive duty, he joined the Navy Reserves until he was 26 and reached the rank of Lieutenant Senior Grade.
He and his wife moved to Baton Rouge, La., where he finished his accounting degree at Louisiana State University. After graduation, he took a job in the accounting office of Humble Oil (now Exxon) in Houston. They bought their first two houses there. Their first two children, Susan Sherrod Cloud and Robert Royce Cloud, were born in Houston. He stayed there until 1954, when he took a job as the comptroller at Texas Bank and Trust in Dallas. At age 28, he was the youngest controller that the bank had hired up until that time. They added a third child, Patricia Anne Cloud, in 1957. He moved jobs again in 1959, becoming a junior partner at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co (now KPMG). Hawaii had just become a state, and Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co sent Al to coordinate moving the Bank of Hawaii onto the U.S. banking system in September 1959, a month after the family had moved to a house on Leahy Drive. The Bank of Hawaii job took longer than expected, and the family joined him in Honolulu in December 1959, and they stayed until May 1960. Al rose quickly in the ranks at PM&M, becoming a senior partner and getting increased responsibility for overseeing audits throughout the southwest.
Throughout that time, he co-coached football and baseball teams for his son, Rob, until Rob reached junior high when those coaches took over. Because of his accounting background, he served as treasurer at his church and at his children’s schools. He also introduced the three children to tennis during the 1960s. They moved to a dream house in 1966 and stayed there until Al was promoted to managing partner of the PM&M Albany, N.Y., office in 1970. He transferred back to the Dallas office in late 1975 as partner-in-charge of the Dallas audit practice. He stayed there until he retired in 1985.
While at PM&M, Al was regional administrator of the banking practice for the Southwest Region and involved in audits of banks in other areas of the United States, in South America and in the Caribbean. He also was a regular instructor at several schools of banking, including the Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University, the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers and the School of Banking of the South at Louisiana State University. He was a featured speaker at banking conferences all over the country as well as a few international conferences. One of his great honors was being one of three persons considered by Paul Volcker, former chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, to fill a vacancy on the board.
When back in Dallas, he began volunteering as treasurer of the Boy Scouts of America. He received multiple honors for his teaching and his speaking, but one of his most treasured awards was receiving the Boy Scouts’ Silver Beaver, the highest volunteer award. He also was named Northeast Louisiana Junior College’s (now University of Louisiana at Monroe) Business Alumnus of the Year in 1971. Al and Biddy downsized in late 2006 and moved to a retirement home in Presbyterian Village North. He was active at PVN, serving on its Board of Directors, writing for the community newsletter and performing in its annual follies. In 2018, he was chosen to go on an Honor Flight, a tribute trip for veterans to see the Washington, D.C. military monuments.
He and Biddy had an active social life. He was a member of a men’s duplicate bridge group. As a couple, they belonged to a couple’s duplicate bridge group for decades, and they traveled all over Europe with some of those couples, especially the Duncans, the Grossnickels and the Wiggans. He and another bridge friend, Steve Welwood, bought a Sea Ray boat together, and they and their wives motored through most of the inland rivers of the Eastern United States. They loved Colorado and decided to buy a retirement home there for the family to visit. One of their great successes was creating Cloud Camp, a week when all the grandchildren would gather and do lots of activities together, such as white-water rafting, climbing Ruby Mountain, rollerskating, riding the alpine slide, making crafts, horseback riding and fishing. As Biddy and Al arrived in town, a small bank in Buena Vista, Colo., was about to close, but Al used his banking experience to turn some depositors into investors so that the bank could reopen under a new name.
Al was resourceful and an innovator. When his children were small, he used coat hangers, string and rubber bands to repair broken dolls. Then, much later, he started attending grandchildren’s sporting games and he soon grew tired of holding an umbrella while watching his grandson, Zach, play soccer in the rain. So, he invented and patented an umbrella holder “Evershady” that fit in a typical foldup chair. He also created attachments for Biddy’s scooter so she could have her oxygen, a purse and a cup holder for a soft drink handy.
Religion played a big part of his and Biddy’s lives. They were past members of the Northridge, the Preston Hollow and the John Calvin Presbyterian churches of Dallas and the Newtonville United Methodist Church of Albany, NY. At Presbyterian Village North, Al was a featured liturgist at Sunday services until his health precluded his attendance.
Al also believed in helping family members achieve their dreams, including investing in a relative’s pig farm and helping some purchase homes. He also was the go-to person for all his family for advice on a variety of topics. As his children were growing up, he peppered them with quotes and sayings as a way to lead them to the right path. A few of his favorites were: “Whatever you do, do with all of your might, for things done by half-uns are never done right,” “Hope for the best, but plan for the worst” and, when someone was disappointed, “Will this matter 10 years later?”
Al and Biddy were married 62 years before her death in 2009. He is survived by his three children, Susan Cloud Gross of Annapolis, Md.; Robert Cloud and his wife, Connie, of Heath; and Patti Cloud Macmanus and her husband, Tim, of Plano. He also is survived by grandchildren and step-grandchildren Mara Alissa Van Dyke and her husband Matt of Tucson, Ariz.; Max Gross of Annapolis, Md.; Amanda Forrest and her husband, Ben, of Dallas; Kyle Humke and his wife, April, of Austin; Ashley Dugan and her husband, Sean, of Katy, Tx.; Zach Harvey and his wife, Kristi, of University Park; Tyler Cloud and his wife, Kathryn, of San Antonio; Mark Macmanus of Dallas; Cory Lignell and his wife, Kim, of Frisco and Erik Lignell and his wife, Sonal, of Allen. He also is survived by 10 great-grandchildren, Jackson, Dylan and Tristan Humke of Austin; Addison Dugan of Katy, Tx.; Preston and Emily Harvey of University Park, Texas; Caroline and Frances Cloud of San Antonio; Zayne Lignell and his wife, Morgan, of Frisco; and Cage Lignell of Frisco. He has one great-great granddaughter, Tommie Rae Lignell of Frisco. Also surviving are nieces Beth Cannon of West Monroe, La., and Royce Romberg of Rosanky, Tx.; and nephews Bob Morrow and his wife, Susan, of Hot Springs Village, Ark., and Chuck Cannon and his wife, Susan, of DeRidder, La., and his brother-in-law, Bill Morrow of Monroe, La. He was predeceased by his sisters, Mary Morrow and Sara Cannon, his niece, Judith Holleran, and nephews, Bill Marshall, Tom Morrow and Mike Cannon.
The family wants to thank all their friends and coworkers who have supported Al and the family during this time. Thanks also to the Presbyterian Village North staff who cared for him and the friends he made there. He truly enjoyed his time there. The family offers a special thanks to Sherry Buchanan, who made Al and Biddy’s lives better through the constant care she unselfishly gave to them every day for 13 years.
Visitation will be Friday, May 5, from 5 t0 7 p.m. at Restland Funeral Home, Cemetery and Crematory, 13005 Greenville Ave., Dallas, Tx 75243. A memorial service will be Saturday, May 6, at 3 p.m. in the chapel at Presbyterian Village North, 8600 Skyline Drive, Dallas, Tx 75243. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Garland Summer Musicals, P.O. Box 462049, Garland, Tx 75046.
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