Doris Turner Alexander

Doris Turner Alexander, 85, a Salisbury resident of almost sixty four years died Sunday, May 1, at the Trinity Oaks retirement community. Doris was a native of Charlotte, North Carolina and spent her childhood after age three in Rutherford County. She was the oldest of the five children of Mr. and Mrs. William Ellis Turner of Rutherfordton and Forest City, NC. She received a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her passion for children, reading and promoting literacy led her to obtain a Masters Degree in Library Science from UNC-G after her four children graduated from high school. She worked in the public school system for several decades as a teachers’ assistant and librarian. In her application for the masters program at UNC-G she wrote, “I have always enjoyed reading, have promoted it with my own children and I feel intensely that children’s reading problems must be attacked not only with skills but with a creative program that is designed to inspire and motivate them to read.” Doris was a librarian at Faith and Morgan Schools for fifteen years where she taught hundreds of elementary school children to love books. Those who know her well would not be surprised to learn that as a senior in high school she and a teammate won the N.C. statewide debate competition. Doris, and her husband Jake who passed away in 1987, were very active members of the Salisbury and Rowan County community. They each made significant contributions through their many volunteer roles in the community and around the state. Jake Alexander Boulevard in Salisbury was named in honor of her husband for his local and statewide contributions and service to the highway system. His roles included membership on the North Carolina Department of Transportation Board, Commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles and Secretary of Transportation during the administrations of Governors James Holshouser and James Martin. His death resulted from a head on collision with a drunk driver which inspired Doris to become an active member of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD). She served as an officer of the North Carolina statewide MADD organization for a number of years. Doris served on the Rowan County Board of Alcohol Beverage Control and in 1974 Governor James Holshouser appointed her as the first woman to serve on the Board of Directors of the N.C. Association of ABC Boards. In that capacity she served as Chairman of the State Committee on Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation within the Association of ABC Boards. In 1987 Doris was appointed by Governor James Martin to the Rowan /Cabarrus Community College Board of Trustees where she served until 2000. Over the years she also served as President of the Salisbury Junior Women’s Club, the Women’s Society of First United Methodist Church and the Rowan County League of Women Voters. She was a leader in Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and was Chairman of the Staff Parish Committee at First United Methodist, as well as a long term Sunday School teacher for the Daisy Hedrick Sunday School class. Doris is preceded in death by her husband, Jacob Franklin Alexander, and her daughter, Margaret Charlotte Alexander Parker of Washington, DC. She is survived by her sons Jacob Franklin Alexander III and his wife Susan of Salisbury, Ellis Turner Alexander and his wife Nancy of Norcross, GA; her daughter Doris Turner Alexander of Carrboro, NC; sisters, Shirley Turner Archibald of Greensboro, NC and Barbara Ann Shuford of Forest City, NC and son-in-law, Tony Parker. She is also survived by six grandchildren and one step-grandchild whom she loved and adored—Margaret and Jacob Alexander IV, Kerry and Christine Alexander, Alden and Alexander Dyer, and Preston Parker. Services will be held on Saturday, May 7, at 12 noon at the First United Methodist Church, 217 South Church Street, Salisbury, NC, following a private burial. There will be a reception at the church following the memorial service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of Doris Turner Alexander to the First United Methodist Church Building Fund, 217 South Church Street, Salisbury, NC 28144.

Doris Turner Alexander

March 6, 1926 - May 1, 2011