William Joseph Alexander, 85, of Ocean City, NJ, died on Thursday, January 9th 2025 with family by his side, in the care of Tapestries Memory Care at the Shores Methodist Home in Ocean City. Today, Bill is singing joyful praise to his Lord and Savior in the heavenly choir, joining those preceding him in death, with a renewed mind and perfected heavenly body.
Bill was born May 10th, 1939 in Philadelphia PA, the son of Joseph Barton Alexander and Florence Elsie Bissmann. He grew up in Germantown section of the city, where he graduated from Germantown High School, participating on the gymnastics team and in the orchestra as a violinist. Bill particularly enjoyed drafting and shop classes.
After graduation, Bill attended the Drexel Institute of Technology on an ROTC scholarship, where he received a BSME and an MBA. Bill served in the Army Corps of Engineers before his marriage to Carolyn Welch in 1965. Following their wedding, Bill was employed by the Philadelphia Electric Company, where he worked in the Engineering and Fuel Procurement Departments until his early retirement in 1991. Afterwards, he developed an acoustics specialty and worked for United Engineers, UNI Engineering, and Valero Refining, before fully retiring in 2008 and moving to North Carolina during the winter months. Bill served as a trustee of the Collingswood Methodist Church and Union Chapel by the Sea in Ocean City, NJ.
Bill was an amazing man, who could fix anything, manage any project big or small, who loved his children and grandchildren in practical ways. He was generous with his time, energy, and resources, and was grateful to serve the institutions and people he valued with all three. As a young man, Bill met his beloved wife Carolyn, on the 49th block of Ocean City where each of their families would stay in the summer months. They would go on to enjoy many summers with their own family as husband and wife, relaxing with many friends on the same block and beach. Bill enjoyed swimming in the ocean, riding tandem bikes, and people watching on the boardwalk with Carolyn. In addition to summers in Ocean City, Bill loved S Gauge trains, especially finding discarded ones that could be fixed up and loved again.
The recent past has been a hard and a long goodbye – seeing his faculties diminish over time especially in the last two years – tough and strong till the end – Bill truly exemplified his favorite quote by Winston Churchill “Never, Never, Never Give Up.”
In addition to his mother and father, Bill is predeceased by his daughter Susan Louise Alexander and his wife Carolyn.
He is survived by his son Robert William of Winston-Salem NC, his wife Rebecca, and grandchildren Katherine and J Alexander; son James Brian of New Albany, Indiana, his wife Sara, and granddaughter Gabrielle Alexander; daughter Joy Carolyn Thomas of Linwood NJ, her husband J.R., and grandchildren William Daley and Grace Daley, and step grandchildren, Cassidy, Charlotte, and Carson Thomas.
William’s memorial service will be held at the First Methodist Church of Collingswood, NJ at 11AM in the morning on Saturday January 25th. Friends may call prior at 10AM or after the memorial service. l.
In lieu of flowers the family encourages the following in his honor:
A gift to the Dementia Society of America ( www.dementiasociety.org/donate )
A gift to the Shepherd’s Center of Winston-Salem NC ( www.shepherdscenter.org/donate-now )
Attendance of a South Jersey S Gaugers event ( https://southjerseysgaugers.org )
Condolences may be left for the family at www.godfreyfuneralhome.com
