Albert Murphy, a resident of The Village at Palmerton, recently celebrated his 87th birthday. He was born on Dec. 27, 1925.

Born and raised in Effort, he was an auto mechanic, like his dad. At 18 he was drafted into the Army in 1943, but not before marrying his high school sweetheart Elaine before deployment.He spent two years in Germany, just outside Berlin. He spent part of his service as a POW.He was eventually released by the Russian Army and returned home where he and Elaine began their life.Albert and Elaine had three children: Lambert, who passed away in 1965; Kenneth of Saylorsburg; and Lisa who lives in Allentown. Albert's wife, Elaine passed in 2000.When asked about hobbies or free time, Albert says, "Auto mechanics don't have hobbies, they have cars!"In light of that fact, Albert is currently learning to play pool, to Wii Bowl, and still enjoys reading the daily paper.