PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Dennis Paul Albert, 61, passed away peacefully at a hospice center in Providence, R.I., on May 2.

He was born and raised in Lewiston, as the eldest of three children of the late Roger and Anita Albert. He worked in the mailroom and as a photographer for the Lewiston Sun Journal while attending St. Dominic High School and Bates College, where he received his bachelor’s degree in French, before enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1968.

He received a master’s degree in civil engineering from Louisiana State University before deploying to Vietnam as a first lieutenant and awarded a Bronze Star and Air Medal as an infantry forward observer and scout helicopter pilot.

Upon his return, he received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design and served as a captain in the Rhode Island National Guard, until honorably discharged in 1983.

He lived in Cranston, R.I., for the last 35 years, leading the restoration and revitalization of numerous Rhode Island landmarks. Most recently, he taught drivers education, computer networking technologies, computer-aided design and drafting to teachers, adults and high school students at the Community College of Rhode Island and East Providence Career and Technical Center.

He also served in leadership roles in a variety of community activities, including the Kiwanis Club of East Providence, the Association of Rhode Island Teachers of Traffic Safety, the Nature Conservancy and Preserve Rhode Island. Most recently, he served as chairman of the Cranston Historic District Commission.

He is survived by his wife, Sharon of Cranston, R.I.; his children, Suzanne Copping of Annapolis, Md., and David Albert of Oklahoma City, Okla.; his brother, Norman of Centreville, Va.; and sister, Pauline of Austin, Texas.