Daniel Alexander

Daniel Alexander YARDLEY, PA - Daniel Alexander died Wednesday, April 22. "I was born" Daniel Alexander liked to say, "at a very young age." And so he was, entering this world in Staten Island, NY, the second child of Bernard and Jessica Goldstone Alexander, on May 9, 1929. Raised in Staten Island and Trenton, NJ, Daniel graduated from Rutgers University and later served his country as an Army corporal, posted in Nashville, TN. In 1952, he married the former Paula Ruth Herman of Paterson, NJ, moved with her back to Trenton, and entered the family business, Alexander Rubber Co., a distibutor of vinyl floor products and carpeting. After managing Alexander Rubber for most of the next three decades, Daniel retired from the business at the age of 50 and embarked on a second career: running the greenhouse at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA, and teaching the Del Val students how to do it at a profit. Daniel also seized the opportunity to pursue an ecletic range of pastimes. He sewed dresses and costumes for his grandchildren, baked endless loaves of seductively delicious cinnamon bread, and challah every Shabbos, and remained a strong supporter of Israel and an active member of his shul. All the while, throughout his life, Daniel took pictures- tens of thousands of photographs: of men wearing tefillin and davening in locations as discrete as Jerusalem and Columbus, Ohio; of explosively beautiful flowers, with images so vivid, they were almost aromatic; of his children and grandchildren, in every conceivable pose and pursuit, and of his favorite subject, his wife, Paula-from the beauty of her early 20s to the loving splendor of her 70s. As a final testament to his talent, Daniel was honored with a 2009 Keystone Press Award for his photograph, "Fuel Tanker Explodes," which appeared last year in the Yardley News. On Wednesday, at the age of 79, Daniel died peacefully at his home. In his passing, there is now a void, but also much to remember and treasure. Predeceased by his sister, Naomi Chilton, Daniel is survived by his devoted wife of 56 years, Paula; three sons and daughters-in-law, David and Betty Alexander of Powell, Ohio, Joseph and Elana Alexander of Efrat, Isreal, and Joshua and Erica Alexander of Chapel Hill, N.C., and his sister, Ruth Sugerman of Pennington, NJ. A loving grandfather, who reveled in the accomplishments of his seven grandchildren and basked in their affection- and who never missed a chance to treat them at the local Dollar Tree Store- Daniel also leaves behind Rebecca and Zach, Jessica and Ben, and Hanna, Yonatan and Rachel. Funeral services are at 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 24, at Orland's Ewing Memorial Chapel, 1534 Pennington Road, Ewing Township; burial will follow at Fountian Lawn Memorial Park in Trenton. Contributions may be made in Daniel's memory to the Chandler Hall Hospice, 99 Barclay St., Newtown, PA 18940; Congregation Beth El, 375 Stony Hill Road, Yardley, PA 19067 or Abrams Hebrew Academy, 31 W. College Ave., Yardley, PA 19067. Shiva will be held at the Alexander residence in Yardley.