Alexander King

KING, Alexander Campbell

Alexander "Alex" Campbell King died peacefully on October 31, 2025, at the age of 96, in the home of his younger daughter in Bolingbrook, IL. Alex, the grandson of the founder of King & Spalding, was a native of Atlanta, born on April 8, 1929 to Elinor Whittemore and Alexander Campbell King, Jr. He attended Spring Street Elementary (where his children were also students) and then E Rivers Elementary where he grew up with other "Buckhead Boys."

He lived most of his beginning years on Peachtree Rd., across from the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King, where his first money-making adventure was selling "Coca Colas" to the workmen who were building that magnificent edifice. His mother was a concert violinist who taught him to play when he was three years old. He played for his Kindergarten graduation and for WSB-radio when he was only five years old, and was one of the original members of the Atlanta Youth Symphony, which became the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

He was proud of being a BSA Eagle Scout and a Sea Scout during WWII. He attended North Fulton High before graduating from the Taft School in Watertown, CT. He graduated from both the University of Georgia '51 (as a Chi Phi brother) and its Law School.

During the Korean conflict, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the US Army Intelligence Corp. Returning to Atlanta, he practiced as a Certified Public Accountant and Auditor. He married Ross Carter of Greenville, SC and was married to her for 54 years until her death in April 2014. They were dedicated and faithful members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, downtown Atlanta, where he was a Lay Reader and sang in their choir for 35 years. He also maintained a membership at St. John-in-the Wilderness Episcopal Church, Flat Rock, NC. In the late 1950s, he held the US patent for frozen apple juice (not concentrate) which he produced and packaged in Henderson County, NC.

He participated in the life of his community as a long time member and one-time President of the Civitan Club of Atlanta; a member of the Vestry at St, Luke's; an early member of Historic Flat Rock, Inc., a place where his family continuously has owned a summer home and property since 1830 and where he visited every summer of his long life; and was a member of the Piedmont Driving Club, a descendant of one of the founders.

He was an early activist supporting the environment …from being an early supporter of paper recycling at his children's school as well as a conscientious owner of 100 acres of pristine land in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Two of his proudest moments were running and finishing the Peachtree Road Race in 1976 (and for many subsequent years afterwards) and driving the athletes from the Olympic Village to their venues in 1996, while sharing the story of his hometown.

He is survived by his brother, Charles W King, Jr., of Atlanta, GA and sister-in-law, Faith Carter Inglis (David "Cooler"), of Clarksville, GA; three children: Clifford King Harbin (and her husband, the Rev'd Dr. J Derek Harbin), of Portsmouth, VA and their three children: Miles, of Chattanooga, TN, Mitchell (and fiancé, Rebecca Jenkins), of Asheville, NC, and Clarissa "Clare" of London, England; Campbell "AC" King of Flat Rock, NC and his two daughters, Lauren, of Proctor, OK and Lydia, of St. Louis, MO; and Allison Carter King, of Bolingbrook, IL and her two children: Robert "Bob" Pettit, of Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Laura Bryce Gilchrist (and her husband, Scott), of Aurora, IL; as well as four great-grandchildren, with another due in February. He was also survived by six nieces and nephews and their families; and many King cousins, including Lee Campbell King and John O King, III, of Atlanta.

The Funeral and Burial will be at later dates at St. John-in-the-Wilderness Episcopal Church, Flat Rock, NC. Please consider memorials to the Hugh Hodgson Organ Fund (www.stlukesatlanta.org) or to the charity of your choice. To contact his daughters, please email Clifford at girlclifford@gmail.com or Allison at ackp1728@gmail.com.

May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.