Former Dothan Mayor Alfred Saliba Passes Away
Rickey StokesViewed: 12989
Posted by: RStokes
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334-790-1729
Date: Jul 15 2012 1:42 PM
DOTHAN: Today Former Dothan Mayor Alfred Saliba has passed away. Mr. Saliba passes away after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Mr. Saliba was the definition of a gentleman. He was always very nice and polite, and a wise man. He was a very successful man, in life and in business. Someone you wanted to mirror in life and business. He was a distinguished gentleman.
As founder and owner of a family construction and real estate business, Alfred Saliba has been fortunate enough to work with his wife, Henrietta, both of his sons, Fred and Mark, and many loyal, hard-working employees for decades.
Mr. Saliba was the founder and owner of Alfred Saliba Homes and Alfred Saliba – Caldwell Banker Realty in Dothan. Many people today live in beautiful homes which Mr. Saliba constructed. Customers knew when Mr. Saliba was associated with the product, it was a quality product.
Saliba was elected Mayor of Dothan in 1989. He brought to the Mayor’s Office sound wisdom and judgment. Mr. Saliba was a visionary. However with that vision brought many who fought him. However his path forward has proven to big giant steps for Dothan being financially sound today and its success today.
Mr. Saliba was re-elected as Dothan’s Mayor in 1992. He served in the Mayor’s post of Dothan for two terms.
During Mr. Saliba’s tenure as Mayor he worked with others to bring to Dothan the Highland Oak Golf Course which is owned by the Retirement Systems of Alabama. Today it is a major tourist attraction surrounded by some of the most beautiful homes in Dothan.
During the time Highland Oaks was coming to Dothan, a lifelong native of Dothan and owner of the land described Mayor Saliba as a “progressive Mayor and a successful businessman”.
Mr. Saliba charted a course for Dothan’s success. That course was charted long before taking the reins of Mayor. He worked in the background through his business, the Chamber of Commerce and other areas to help establish groundwork for Dothan’s future. He was a man of wisdom and foresight.
Also, as mayor of Dothan and an involved community member, he has enjoyed long-term relationships with City of Dothan department heads, church friends, Chamber of Commerce members and fellow trustees on community organization boards, such as Hawk-Houston Boys Club. Throughout these activities and associations, Alfred has developed a deep and abiding interest in the health and wellbeing of all Dothan area families.
With that in mind Mr. Saliba established Alfred Saliba Family Services. Since its inception, the Saliba Center for Families has provided opportunities for more than 25,000 Wiregrass families through education, health and career-training and placement programs. Knowing this gratifies Alfred deeply, and his association with the good work of the Saliba Center ranks as one of the most important legacies of his life and career.
Alfred Joseph Saliba comes from roots that reach deep into Dothan history. He graduated from Dothan High School and earned a degree in civil engineering/construction at the University of Alabama.
With the passing of Mr. Saliba at age 82, Dothan has lost someone who loved this city and established a lot of what we enjoy today. A true Dothan icon.
More importantly than his career achievements, Mr. Saliba was a family man. He worked with his wife Henrietta in the business. The two were a team sharing a common vision. A definition of a lady, Mrs. Saliba represented Dothan well as first lady during the eight years of Mr. Saliba’s term as Mayor. She also served him well as a partner in the success of the business, but more importantly in the success of their family.
Both of the Saliba's sons, Fred and Mark, carry on the honest hard working tradition Mr. and Mrs. Saliba set forth in the example of life, family and in business. The same goes for their daughter Anna Marie.
The body of Mr. Saliba will be at Byrd Funeral Home located at 3409 West Main Street in Dothan.
From The Dothan Chamber of Commerce Business Hall of Fame
After graduation from Dothan High School, Mr. Saliba attended the University of Alabama where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, construction. He returned to Dothan and married Henrietta Carpenter of New Hope. Alabama. They raised three children: Annamarie, Alfred Joseph Jr. (Fred) and James Mark. Mr. Saliba established a building and land development firm, offering residential and commercial construction and real estate services. His professional standards and personal integrity provided a solid foundation for the business: and as founder and President, his hard work ensured the success of the Alfred Saliba Corporation. Mr. Saliba, a founding member of the Dothan Home Builders Association, was Builder of the Year in 1978. He has served as Chairman of the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce and on the boards of the Salvation Army, Wiregrass United Way, Habitat for Humanity and Industrial Development Board of the City of Dothan. He is a Past President of the Boys & Girls Club of Hawk-Houston and the Dothan Rotary Club where he was selected a Paul Hams Fellow and was also the 1995 Arthritis Foundation's Humanitarian of the Year. Mr. Saliba served as Dothan's mayor from 1989-97. In 1993, Mr. Saliba formed a task force to assess community needs, seeking an alternative to welfare for Dothan's struggling families. The recommendation to centralize health /service programs for all family members resulted in the founding of the Alfred J. Saliba Family Services Center. This "one-stop service provider" became a model for 15 others in die state. Under Mayor Saliba's leadership, Dothan was chosen as Alabama's most livable city by Money magazine from 1994 to 1996. Following his second term as mayor, he was inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame and named a Distinguished Fellow in the School of Engineering at the University of Alabama. Mr. Saliba's favorite quote describes the life he has led. Leo C. Rosten, the Polish-born American humorist-sociologist said. "I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy, I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable and to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all."
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