Joan McIntosh Alexander

Joan McIntosh Alexander, aged 90, died on November 22, 2019, in Peachtree City, Georgia.
The only child of William Avery McIntosh and Thelma Rhenie Huntington McIntosh, Mrs. Alexander was
born in Brunswick GA in 1929 and grew up on the coast of Georgia in Glynn and Wayne counties. She
attended Glynn Academy and graduated from Valdosta (GA) High School. She continued her education
at Georgia State Women’s College (now Valdosta State University) and received her Bachelor of Arts
degree in English from Georgia State University.
She met her husband, Lawrence Glen Alexander (known to his family and friends as Alex), a pilot for
Eastern Airlines, while a stewardess for Southern Airways. After knowing each other for only six months,
they were married in 1952 at First Presbyterian Church, Valdosta. As was the custom at the time,
stewardesses were not permitted to be married, so she continued her employment with both Southern
and subsequently Eastern in ground operations.
The next several years were spent raising her three sons in the Atlanta area and pursuing her favorite
leisure activities of golf and bridge.
Upon Alex’s retirement from Eastern, they moved to their home at the Lake Lanier Sailing Club in
Flowery Branch GA, spending the summers—and many winters—sailing up and down the lake. They
were very active in all parts of the club, forming many long-lasting friendships that have endured to this
day. As their sons grew and began their own lives, Mrs. Alexander pursued several careers including
elementary school teacher, real estate agent, travel agent, and head of the proof department for Lottery
Production Services, now known as the Georgia Lottery Corporation.
A life-long member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Mrs. Alexander was keenly
interested in genealogy. The McIntoshes came to the Province of Georgia in 1734 aboard the Prince of
Wales as part of the original 177 Highlanders recruited from Clan Chattan in Inverness-shire to defend
the nascent colony from Spanish Florida. She was a direct lineal descendant of Colonel William
McIntosh, who commanded a regiment of light horse in the Continental Army during the American
revolt against rule by Great Britain. Mrs. Alexander served as Regent of the Colonel William Candler
chapter of the DAR in Gainesville GA and remained active in the organization throughout her life.
She was formerly a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church (Gainesville GA) and a current member of
Fayetteville (GA) First United Methodist Church.
She is survived by her three sons: Lawrence Glen Alexander, Jr, and his wife, Leslie Zellers, of Oakland
CA; William McIntosh Alexander, and his wife, Beth, of Alexandria VA; and Joseph Martin Alexander of
Atlanta GA; and five grandchildren: Lawrence Glen Alexander, III, and Sylvia Joan Alexander; John
McIntosh Alexander, Samuel Marston Alexander, and Elisabeth Anne Alexander. Her husband of 54
years, Lawrence Glen Alexander, pre-deceased her in 2007.
Inurnment of the cremains, to include a private, family memorial service will be at Arlington National
Cemetery, Arlington VA.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Mrs. Alexander’s name to the James
Waldrop Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, in care of Mrs. Eileen S. Zito, Treasurer, 130
Bay Dr, Newnan GA 30263.