Dec. 18, 1924, to Aug. 11, 2018

Father, grandfather and great-grandfather Arthur Carl Alday passed to the Lord Aug. 11, 2018, at The Maples in Springfield. He was a man of integrity and good humor, strong in his faith and beloved by his family and friends. His wife, Ruth, gave him the love and close family he missed growing up. Throughout their life together, he was a devoted husband and dedicated father to Don, Dale, Dennis and DeeAnn, enjoying simple family outings and gatherings around the dinner table after church. He supported the family as a radio and TV repairman and broadcast engineer.

Carl was born Dec. 18, 1924, to Arthur Charles Alday and Blanche Musgrave in Hamtramck, a Polish community in Detroit, near the Dodge race track. Carl's grandmother, Madge Winkler Alday, served as midwife at his birth. The entire Alday family, Arthur and Blanche, his parents, sisters and their spouses, had relocated there from Springfield, to work in the automobile factories.

Carl's father died when Carl was only a few months old. Mother and child moved back to Springfield to live with their Musgrave relatives. After his mother married Floyd Huff, a railroad man, the new family moved to Memphis, Tenn., where half-brother Bob Huff was born. Carl attended kindergarten and early elementary school there.

When that marriage ended in divorce, young Carl, about 8 at the time, was adopted by his Alday grandparents and grew up on their 108-acre, hard-scrabble farm between Bois D'Arc and Elwood. He learned to milk cows by hand; plant corn and harvest it with horses and mules; and live without indoor plumbing, electricity or running water. His grandfather Harvey Alday was a hot-tempered man and a Socialist who had few friends among his conservative farmer neighbors. It was not an easy childhood for young Carl.

Carl left Bois D'Arc High School in March 1943, before graduation, to join the U.S. Army. He was assigned to a signal company in the 8 ^th Armored Division and for three years worked on radio equipment in tanks and armored vehicles in Louisiana. He credited his interest and experience with radio as a teenager for that assignment and in turn credited the Army with its training that launched his career.

He met Ruth Holtzen at what was then called the Ozark Empire Free Fair in Springfield. They were married Jan. 1, 1948, at a tiny Lutheran church near Central High School. It was a cold day with ice-covered streets and roads, but the Holtzen family of two sisters, brother and parents made the trip packed inside an old pickup from their farm in Lamar.

Through Ruth, Carl became a Christian and attended Missouri Synod Lutheran churches for the remainder of his life, including Trinity Lutheran Church in Springfield.

After marriage, Carl and Ruth and their growing family lived for a time in Monett and Lamar, where he first repaired radios and later TVs. In Lamar, he opened Carl's Radio and TV off the square where he also sold TVs. After eight years, the family moved to Springfield where Carl eventually landed a job with the city's first TV station, KTTS TV, later Channel 10, where he worked from 1959 to 1987 as a broadcast engineer/cameraman. He continued to repair old radios and TVs after retirement.

During his career, Carl pursued his love of antique cars and over about 40 years tinkered with and owned eight or nine different cars. The last, a 1933 eggplant-colored REO with white sidewalls, was his pride and joy. He and Ruth belonged to the Springfield Vintage Motor Club and drove the car in many parades.

Carl is survived by three children, nine grandchildren, three great-granddaughters, one great-grandson on the way, two step-grandchildren and four step-great-grandchildren as follows:

Children - Dale Alday and wife Mary, Dennis Alday and wife Becky and DeeAnn Alday Evans and husband Don Evans.

Grandchildren - Jennifer Alday, Dolan Alday, Katie Evans Burger, Laura Alday Stinnett, Joe Evans, David Alday, Tom Evans, Dalton Alday and Sam Evans.

Step-grandchildren – Anthony Westhusing and Andrea Westhusing.

Great-grandchildren – Cloe Stinnett, Ava Alday and Vada Evans and one great-grandson on the way.

Step-great-grandchildren – Ella and Sophia Westhusing and Lexie and Logan Reynolds.

Other survivors include sisters-in-law Lucille Schilling and Donna Selvey; brother-in-law Lloyd Holtzen and wife Mary; daughter-in-law Jennifer Ailor; and many nieces, nephews and other relatives in Missouri, Arkansas and Michigan.  He is preceded in death by wife Ruth and son Don.

Visitation will be held 6-8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 17, at Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home, 1947 E. Seminole St., Springfield, MO 65804. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 18, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1415 S. Holland, Springfield, MO 65807. Burial will be 2 p.m., Monday, Aug. 20, at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery at Lake Springfield. Memorial donations may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church.

The family acknowledges the compassionate care of the staff for Carl at The Maples. He considered it his final earthly home.