Conrad Albrecht, 82, nursery owner

Conrad Jay Albrecht, 82, the third-generation owner of 125-year-old Albrecht's Nursery in Narberth, died Monday at Lankenau Hospital of a head injury from a fall. He was injured in mid-January while washing his Chrysler Pacifica at a car wash in Ardmore, and had been hospitalized since.

A longtime resident of Narberth, Mr. Albrecht had lived in Narvon, Lancaster County, since 2003.

The nursery has its roots in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, where Mr. Albrecht's grandfather John Albrecht started growing flowers in rented greenhouses in 1882. He bought the land where the nursery thrives on Montgomery Avenue in 1914, back when Montgomery was a toll road. Four years later, the family bought the property across the street at 701 Montgomery and opened a Moorish-style flower shop that still bears the name in ornate tiles.

"When I was young, there was a concrete holding tank in the flower shop for alligators my uncle brought from Florida," daughter Judith Albrecht Barnes said. "People came from all over the Main Line to see them. I remember limousines with drivers waiting in the circular drive for wealthy women who were buying flowers."

Mr. Albrecht became head of the company in the 1960s. In 1976, the family divided the nursery and flower shop. Mr. Albrecht owned the nursery, and his cousin John took over the flower shop, which he sold 1986. The new owners expanded it into upscale Shoppes & Market at Albrecht's in 1994. That was closed in 2006.

When Mr. Albrecht retired from the nursery in 1999, sons Jay and Bruce became owners. Over the years, Albrecht's had shops and nurseries in Wayne, Ardmore and East Goshen. Mr. Albrecht grew up in Narberth and graduated in 1942 from Lower Merion High School. He immediately enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard but did not serve overseas during World War II. He was discharged in 1945. He later served 50 years in the Civil Air Patrol.

In 1946, he married his high school sweetheart, Marjorie Southgate, and the couple raised five children in Narberth.

Mr. Albrecht was a Mason and a member of the Scottish Rite Lehigh Consistory, Valley of Allentown. He was also active in several nurserymen's associations and was president of the Bala Cynwyd-Narberth Rotary Club. Mr. Albrecht enjoyed hunting deer in central Pennsylvania. In addition to his wife, sons and daughter Judith, he is survived by daughters Sandra Tryon and Marlene Hess; seven grandchildren; one great-grandson; and a sister.

Friends may call at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Alleva Funeral Home, 1724 E. Lancaster Ave., Paoli. A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Monday in Philadelphia Memorial Park, Frazer.