Where do you start? Al was not a typical person. Few knew his early beginnings. He was born to Ethel Sanders Hanson in either 1926 or 1928 in Seminole, OK. His mother and uncle were both shot in a jealous feud and his younger sister Paula was kidnapped in 1934. He was raised by his Grandmother Essie Sanders and his sister was found and raised by his Uncle Tom (Honey Bun) and Aunt Mildred of Shawnee, OK. His early memory of his mother was dressing him up and watching her dance, which is where he got so much pleasure dancing with his wife Evelyn. Al grew up with his uncle (Brownie) Mark Anderson which was more like a brother since they were so close in age. His uncles Marvin and Ben were always wheeling and dealing during the depression as his Grandmother ran a boarding house to support the family. The oil boom in Seminole made for an exciting life for a young boy. Al and Brownie did odd jobs and schemes to earn money. They did manual labor but Al even liked selling punches on a punch board to earn money over yard work. Sometimes they would even "borrow" a chicken to sell so they could go to a Saturday night movie or rollerskating. On Sunday Grandma would take Al to church probably to repent for "borrowing" those chickens. He was baptized at a young age. Al was a whiz on roller skates and his uncles eventually opened a roller skating rink that Al helped run. He was active in the Navy Reserve and working the roller rink when he met Evelyn. He moved to OKC and worked as an ambulance driver/funeral home assistant as he continued to date Evelyn Seidel who was living with several Vici girls attending beauty college. As Evelyn's mother Pearl said, she was attracted to that catfish smile. Al and Evelyn enjoyed dressing up and going dancing with friends. They even got into Powder Puff and drag racing cars at Taft Stadium. Evelyn's brother Calvin and Betty Marler had decided to get married at Canadian, TX. Papa John Seidel told Al why don't you all go ahead and join them, so on August 6th, 1949, the two couples were married. John made the wedding gift of $100.00 or a cow to Al and many times Al said if I had taken the cow, I could have been a rancher.
Al and Evelyn kept their marriage a secret for two weeks until Al could quit his ambulance/funeral home job fearing pranks his co-workers would play on him. One of Evelyn's neighbors observed his crawling out her bedroom window one morning and gave him a serious talk about ruining that sweet girls' reputation. Al was now working with Reeves Dental Supply as a traveling salesman while Evelyn was working at the Greens five and ten cent store and later at the Black Hotel as a waitress. They would save their pennies and paid out an alarm clock, a small radio, and other items for their home. They purchased on November 6, 1949 a small trailer they lived in for over a year. Al got his organizational skills here as everything had to be in its place. He worked at Reeves Dental Supply until the early 1960's contacting dentist across the state. He met and remained life long friends with many of the people he came into contact with. He enjoyed traveling in the company car but in 1955 Al and Evelyn had started a family with the birth of Pamela and he wanted to not miss her growing up. Al decided he wanted to be in business for himself and in 1961 moved Evelyn and Pam to Seminole where Evelyn opened Evelyn's Beauty Shop and Al started the process of beginning his own business. Brownie and Lorene Anderson lived on a farm along with children Jerry, Norma, Mark and Clark. Al and Brownie decided to try raising cattle, as they soon found selling was more profitable. Along with other businesses, he opened a used car business. About four years later, long time friends Bill and Doris Stewart agreed that they would open a beauty shop if Evelyn would sell her shop and move to OKC. Al and Bill opened A&B Discount Furniture in downtown Oklahoma City which was a successful business until urban renewal forced them to relocate and close. Al went to work for KLPR a new Radio/TV station selling advertisements and transporting celebrities. Here he met Porter Wagner, Roy Clark, Jude and Jody, Tim Holt, Wanda Jackson, Gary England, and many other famous local people. Al never knew a stranger. On weekends Al and Evelyn opened a booth at the Old Paris Flea Market and began the buying of antiques and collectables. Soon after, Al went to Missouri School of Auctioning and received his title of Colonial Alfred Jones. He loved the auctioneer business and convinced several friends and family members to attend auctioneer school including nephews Bruce Seidel, and Greg Reid. Al and Evelyn purchased several motor homes that they traveled in and flea marketed while enjoying life and spending time with Evelyn's brother Eddie and wife Clarneta. Al became interested in collecting china whiskey decanters and formed the Sooner Jim Beam Collectors club in OKC. Al, Evelyn, and later Pam, Otis and Mike enjoyed the fellowship and yearly conventions making a lot of fun memories. His grandson Michael was born in 1975 and he loved taking him on the road in the summer with Grandma and Grandpa. Otis and Pam moved from OKC to Vici in 1982 and shortly after, Jennifer was born. Grandma and Grandpa Jones decided there was no reason to live in OKC and they became snow birds living in Vici but traveling to Quartz, AZ or TX for the winter. Al opened the Vici Past + Present in early 1991 just before the birth of his 3rd grandchild, Rebecca "Lizzie Lou". He worked at bettering the Vici area including his pet project, the Katy Depot. He knew more about the history of Vici, Highway 60, the Depot, the Oil Can House, and Old Jail, Cestos, than many people that had lived here all their life. He also enjoyed being a Vici Lion, a member of the Community Christian Church, but most of all he enjoyed being Great Grandpa Al to his three "girls" that Mike and Amy had given him. Al always had a story or a project going, and that is what made him who he was. He was always trying to find needs and fill them. Friends and family would sometimes get frustrated with Al because he didn't just want to visit; he had things that needed to be done. He lived life and refused to be a spectator.