Gene P. Alexander

1923 - 2019

December 6, 1923 - October 25, 2019 Gene P. Alexander (95) died on October 25, 2019 in the apartment in Arcadia, California, she had shared with her husband of 72 years, Wayne D. Alexander (Alex). Gene was born Pearl Gene Porter on December 6, 1923 in Thrift, Texas. Gene was the third of what would be six daughters of the Rev. Curtis Lester Porter and Peggy (Strickland) Porter. Rev. Porter married Gene and Alex in the family home on May 31, 1947. The marriage lasted through 5 states, 15 homes and 2 children. On the day of his marriage Alex promised Gene's father that he would take care of her for the rest of her life. He did just that, but Gene outlived Alex by 9 days. Gene graduated in 1941 from Longview Senior High School, then left East Texas to work in Washington, D.C. for a year or two as a typist during World War II. She returned home to attend East Texas Baptist College in Marshall, Texas, where in March 1945 she was voted prettiest girl in the school. She later took a clerical job at General Dynamics in Daingerfield, Texas, where she met her future husband. Alex's career as a rocket and satellite engineer required the family to move every few years, from Daingerfield to Longview, Texas, Winnetka, California, Ogden, Utah, Littleton and Boulder, Colorado, La Crescenta, Palos Verdes and again La Crescenta, California. After having children Gene stayed home to raise her sons, but when her youngest reached high school, she reentered the working world by taking a job as a librarian with the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. She loved that job and spoke of it fondly even years after leaving it. As Gene grew older she became an ardent homebody, preferring the comfort of home to the outside world. She loved window shopping with girlfriends, reading mysteries and biographies of 1940s movie stars, playing dominoes and See's Nuts and Chews, but most of all she loved her grandchildren. She and Alex provided childcare, attended school events and graduations and were always on hand for birthdays. Holidays were always great fun at Nana's house. Gene particularly enjoyed grandson Makulumy's annual piano recitals. Gene was the only Porter sister to permanently move away from Texas. Ultimately her five other sisters all lived within driving distance of one another, but distance did not diminish her bonds with her sisters. Gene dearly loved her sisters, speaking to them by telephone regularly while she was still able. After Gene was no longer able to travel, her sisters came to visit her in California. Good times were had by all. She is survived by her sons, [Lynn] Wayne Alexander (Cheri) and Jon Michael Alexander-Hills (Laurie), both of Los Angeles, CA; her grandchildren, Marley Alexander of Oakland, CA, and Makulumy Alexander-Hills of New York, NY; and her sisters, Eileen Okerson, Peggy Boyland and Patricia Lou Porter Boorman (John). She was preceded in death by her parents and sisters Faye Porter Moore and Evelyn Porter Williams. A private memorial is scheduled November 24, 2019.