John L. Alexander

John Lester Alexander, 80, of Biggsville, Illinois, passed away Sunday, June 5th, 2022, at 10:40 pm at home, peacefully, with family nearby. John had given up treatments for cancer and heart issues to join hospice and spend more time with family. Less than a week later he was gone.

John was born October 16, 1941, in Danville, Pennsylvania, the son of Myrl and Lorene Alexander and brother of Nancy Joanne Alexander. He received his master's degree in Public Administration at SIU Carbondale (Illinois) in 1965 where he also met and married the love of his life, Trish Smith Alexander, in 1964.

He served in the Air Force as a black-market control officer at Clark Air Base in the Philippines and later as chief of police at Niagara Falls Air Base in New York, where their two sons, Brett and Mark, were born.  Trish and John jokingly say the boys were born on their honeymoon.
In 1969, after the Air Force, John joined Roadway Express, managing terminals in Decatur, Omaha, Chicago area, and DesMoines, IA., until he took up farming in Biggsville, Illinois, in 1979, on the family farm, when his brother-in-law and best friend, Ora Kent Smith, was killed in an airplane crash.  John was an early no-tiller, following in the footsteps of his conservationist mother and father-in-law, Genevieve and Ray Smith.
John enjoyed his family, farming, sailing, flying, music, Mexico, and working and relaxing in the woods, especially buggy rides through and around the woods with Trish or anyone who wanted to join him.
Survivors include his wife, Trish, his sons Brett (Jane) and Mark (Julie), and grandchildren Wade, Ben (Meredith), Emma (Dylan), Katie (David), Sarah (Jake), and Grace (Evan). a great grandson, Warner, and two more greats due in July, and his sister Nancy Hibbs, and sisters-in- law Marcia Paoni (Dave) and Mary Susan Collins. Also, nieces and nephews too special not to mention:  Leslie Rae Smith McClain (Merle) Cristy Collins Potts (Dan), Susan Spaith Larsen, Jude Spaith, Robert Spaith, and from Texas Lisa Hibbs White, (Charlie), David Hibbs, and also some really wonderful great nieces and nephews from Texas and Illinois.
A celebration for family and friends will be at the Alexander Barn at a later date.  Cremation has been entrusted to McGuire and Davies Funeral Home in Monmouth with loving assistance of John's great nephew, Alex Kent Young, of McMullin-Young Funeral Home in Sullivan, Illinois.