VENICE, Fla. (WWSB) – Dr. Fred Albee was world-famous for his medical innovations, but his wife Louella was the force behind his success and the driving power that helped Venice become a sparkling city on the Suncoast during the Great Depression.
Louella was born in Maine and moved to New York City, where she became a successful career woman designing ladies’ hats.
“And they were a very, very big thing in the early 1900s,” said Nanci Bussaglia, club historian for the Venice Nokomis Woman’s Club. “She was very successful, working her way up into one of the biggest hat companies in the world.”
Business skills that shaped a city
Louella’s business experience proved crucial for her future role in Venice development…