Rev. David Stanley Alkins

April 20, 1922 - May 4, 2015

Rev. David Stanley Alkins, MusD, D.D. Father Alkins died peacefully at his Seaview, WA home on May 4, 2015. He was born on April 20, 1922 in Bingham, ME, to Maurice and Barbara Reynolds Alkins. After schooling in Bingham, he graduated from The Boston Conservatory of Music, Boston, MA. While a church organist in Houston, TX, he met and married Jeanne Lorraine Dozier. They raised three children, Peter, John, and Mary. Jeanne Alkins died in 2011. A strong call to the Sacred Ministry led him to attend the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, New Haven, CT. He was ordained a Priest of the Episcopal Church in 1951, and served two churches in TX, then moved to the Northwest were he was Rector of Christ Church, Seattle, WA and St. Paul's Church, Walla Walla, WA. He married Freda Dorothy Eyestone in 1970. Together they raised Bill, Judy and Jerry. Freda Alkins died in 2007. On a secular level, he was Director of the Washington Association for Retarded Children and the National Center for Law & the Handicapped, South Bend, IN. He became Director of Brooks Divinity School, Denver, CO in 1979, and received his Doctor of Divinity degree in 1987. Father Alkins' life was centered on loving and compassionate service. His influence was gentle but persuasive; he brought about change for the better everywhere God placed him. His loving nature and warm smile will linger in the hearts of all who knew him. Adored by his family and friends, he has gone home to "make glad the City of God". He is survived by is wife, Joan; sons, Peter Alkins (Rhonda Brooks); John Alkins, (who preceded him in death in 2012), daughter Mary Gehling (Guy) and by his children, Bill Eyestone (Jan), Judy Daugherty, Jerry Eyestone (George Curren); grandchildren, Paul Daugherty, Jeff Ray, Carolyn Leonhard, Victor, Alicia, Caitlin, Paxton, and, Hanne Gehling, Kelly Brooks and Miles Alkins. A service of Holy Eucharist in his memory will be held at St Peter's Episcopal Church, Seaview, WA, on Sunday, May 31, 2015 at 9:15 a.m. A private family service of Christian Burial will take place at 11:00 a.m., on May 23, 2015 at Masonic Center and Memorial Park, Tum-water, WA. Memorial donations may be made to the American Parkinson Association, VA Medical Center, 1660 S. Columbian Way, Seattle WA 98108, or to The David Alkins Scholarship Fund, St. Benedict's Episcopal Church, 910 Bowker St SE, Lacey, WA 98503.