Mary Elizabeth Alexander

Mary Beth Alexander was born on July 26 to Farris and Julia Fraed in Ford City, Pennsylvania. She had six siblings. She was the dreamy daughter who loved singing, drawing, and exploring the woods near her home. Her love of nature, music, and art sustained her throughout her life.

Mary Beth was the beloved wife of Jay Edward Alexander (1931-2013). They raised four daughters - Colleen Keyes (Mike), Julie Beal, Mary Alexander, and Wende Clark (Chris) - and were blessed with five grandchildren and three great grandsons. She is also survived by sisters-in-law Jean Seidel and Doloris Campbell, brother-in-law Jerry Seidel, and 13 nieces and nephews.

The family lived in Mayfield Heights, Ohio for eight years, then moved to Chesterland, Ohio. They attended Mayfield United Methodist Church where Mary Beth sang soprano in the church choir. She was active in PTA and Girl Scouts, with an emphasis on arts and crafts. Mary Beth was an excellent seamstress as well. She sewed all of her daughters' dresses (and Halloween costumes!), crocheted baby blankets, and handcrafted stuffed animals. In 1997, Jay and Mary Beth moved to Aurora, Ohio and were active members of The Church in Aurora.

The family always had a large vegetable garden, along with fruit trees, berry bushes, and a grape arbor. Jay planted and tended the crops while Mary Beth and the girls put up the harvest - jars of tomatoes, beans, pickles, sauerkraut, and applesauce, as well as frozen fruit and grape juice. Mary Beth's pies and cobblers were family and church potluck favorites; her Concord grape pie was second to none!

Early family vacations were rustic camping trips in the woods of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Jay built a "kitchen box" for Mary Beth to store the pots and pans, utensils, spices, and dry ingredients that she used to make hearty camp meals. With a Coleman stove and a campfire built by Jay and the girls, she was set. Their longest camping trip was across the country to El Paso, Texas to visit Mary Beth's father. They had many adventures along the way - playing in the gypsum "snow" at White Sands National Park and viewing the sunset bat flight at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, and spending a festive day in Ciudad Juárez just across the border.

After the two older girls were off to college, the family spent two weeks every summer at the Rockwood Resort on Georgian Bay in Ontario. Jay would fish and Mary Beth would paint. They stayed in a cottage, so no more kitchen box! As empty nesters, Jay and Mary Beth spent a month every spring at Oak Island, North Carolina. Their final trip together was an overland trip in Alaska which was the highlight of their travels. As a widow, Mary Beth went on two cruises to Europe with her best friend from childhood and fulfilled a lifelong dream of traveling abroad.

In the 1970s, Mary Beth took formal art classes and devoted the rest of her life to capturing wildlife and pets in oil paints. Jay managed Mary Beth's art career and they spent 25 years participating in arts and crafts shows. Her "Rustics" and "Pet Portraits" have made their way around the world! Mary Beth also shared her faith through art: her chalk art ministry took her to many regional churches. Another cherished endeavor was Promiseland at The Church in Aurora. From 2004-2005, Mary Beth, with other artistic church members, designed and painted murals depicting biblical scenes in each of the Sunday school rooms. Her art continues to enrich the lives of so many.

Among her many talents, Mary Beth is especially remembered for her beautiful voice. No matter what she was doing, she would be singing! Now her clear, sweet voice has joined the choir of angels.

A celebration of her life is planned for next spring at The Church in Aurora. In lieu of flowers, it was her wish that donations be made in memory of Jay Alexander to the American Parkinson Disease Association, PO Box 61420, Staten Island, NY 10306.