AHF Mourns Passing of Wallace Albertson, Former Board Chair

In News by AHF

Widow of actor Jack Albertson and documentary filmmaker served on AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Board of Directors from 1997 through 2009, serving at various times as Board Chair and Vice Chair.

LOS ANGELES (January 10, 2015) AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today mourned the death of longtime West Hollywood resident Wallace Albertson, a former Board Chair of AHF. Albertson served on AHF’s Board of Directors from 1997 through 2009, serving at various times as both Board Chair and Vice Chair. Albertson was retired but working on a documentary film project in Africa during her early years on AHF’s Board. She was also the widow of respected film and television actor Jack Albertson, whom she was married to for nearly thirty years until his passing in 1981. Wallace Albertson also served as California Democratic Council President from 1975-1981. Wallace and Jack were also among the earliest member of the Stonewall Democratic Club, lending their voices and celebrity to advocacy for LGBT issues in the Democratic Party and beyond. Albertson passed away Friday in Los Angeles.

“Wallace was an extraordinary champion for people in need. She fought alongside her colleagues at AHF for decades, always willing to lend her voice to our advocacy. As chair of the board she brought her vast organizational experience and her passion for justice to every debate. Wallace was a class act in every way imaginable. You will be missed,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

“I am so saddened to learn about the passing of Wallace Albertson, a former Board member of AHF.  Wallace chaired our Board during a period of rapid growth and development. She brought a sense of urgency to our overall mission to bring life saving ARVs to disenfranchised populations and communities on a global basis.  Her intelligence, compassion and desire for social justice will always be remembered.  We offer our sincere sympathy and prayers to her family,” said Cynthia Davis, Assistant Professor, College of Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and the incumbent Board Chair of AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

“Wallace and I were great friends for all the years we served on the board of AHF together.  She ‘initiated me into the process’ of serving on the board and was my mentor in those early years,” said Judith Briggs Marsh, also a former AHF Board Chair and colleague of Albertson’s as well as a longtime political operative and community activist from Oakland, CA who over the years has been active in the East Bay community. “We had many laughs, especially about our plans to be ‘floated’ out on a raft when we were ready to die…the Eskimo way. I loved her dearly…Dear Wallace, I will ‘see ya when I see ya.’

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