By Chantel Rhodes
Most students don”t know his name, but many have seen the mystery bread man in his old white station wagon delivering rolls, bagels, muffins and other baked goods at Wymount Terrace.
The balding, elderly man with a Band-aid on one ear slows his car as if to ask directions, but he knows exactly where he”s going.
“I”ve got your delivery,” he says with a smile.
Albert Ostraff of Alpine is the mysterious man, and he has a soft spot for students. He, his wife and their three children are all BYU alumni.
Ostraff said he prefers to be known only as Albert, and shied at the idea of being the subject of an article.
Eventually, he opened up and told stories about his Navy days in the 40”s and his work in travel and higher education.
Now Ostraff salvages day-old bread from different local stores three days a week and delivers it to people he said he thinks could use it.
Ostraff delivers his edibles to Deseret Industries, families, and widows he knows. Whenever there is bread left over, he takes it to the students at Wymount.
Ostraff has been in the bread delivery business for more than 20 years.
He saw that stores would throw away bakery goods as soon as they “expired,” but were still quite usable.
Rather than letting all that food go to waste, Ostraff began salvaging it.
“I just felt people needed it,” he said.
Ostraff has tried to get bread to students in various ways. When one avenue closes, he opens another one.
On his “days off,” Ostraff has arranged for someone from the Bishop”s Storehouse, a part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” welfare program, to pick up the bread.
He said he has talked to BYU bishops and stake presidents in the past to help arrange for students to pick up the bread, but that didn”t work out.
More than 20 years ago, Ostraff made arrangements for D. I. in Salt Lake City to pick up bread from one of the nearby Smith”s stores.
When new Smith”s management discontinued the donations, Ostraff found other stores that would donate the bread they would otherwise throw away.
Recently, Macey”s in Provo has agreed to donate its day-old baked goods to his project. Other stores also contribute.
Ostraff said he gets bread at different stores at different times.
Although retired, Ostraff still occasionally substitute teaches at American Fork High School and other schools when he isn”t making his volunteer bread rounds.
He fills in for teachers “only if they”re in dire need,” he said. Then he added, “I”m glad to help them.”
“He loves to play the good Samaritan,” said his wife, Nola. “It”s amazing how my husband gets around.”
Although she said she encourages her husband to slow down, Ostraff keeps up his busy schedule.
“We have a lot of people who have expressed thanks,” Nola Ostraff said. “He is a good man.”
Ostraff enjoys helping people while maintaining a low profile.
But Nola Ostraff said in their BYU days, her husband was anything but low profile.
She recalled seeing a picture of Ostraff on the front page of “The Y News,” precursor to “The Daily Universe.” In the photo he was riding a white horse across campus.
“He was quite prominent on campus,” she said.
She filled out a preference card, which is how women at BYU asked their dates to the preference dance at the time, because she wanted to get to know Ostraff.
“He was elected president of the California Club that evening,” the former Cougarette said.
Although he has since traded in the white horse for a white station wagon, Ostraff stays active on campus in his own way, doing what he can to help student families fill their stomachs.
“I was in business (as a student),” he said. “Now I give people the business.”
