Wilma “Billie” Lee (Luder) McAlexander, aged 93, died peacefully on November 26, 2020, in LaGrange, Georgia. Billie was born moments after her twin sister, Beth, on July 21, 1927 in Waldo, Kansas to parents Clemmer D. (Knapp) and Jacob “Pop” K. Luder. She married Harold “Herk” McAlexander on August 18, 1945 and travelled with him to Army posts around the U.S. and in Japan. They moved to Hoisington in early 1950. Two sons came along, K.C. in March 1950 and Dan in October 1953.
For almost 60 years, she was Hoisington’s all-round organist and piano teacher. She played for thousands of services—church, weddings, funerals, and high school commencements. She taught hundreds of kids piano, bringing music alive with her upbeat spirit. She taught a young adult Sunday School class called “Pairs and Spares.” She loved movies and dogs and was an inveterate walker.
In 2006, Herk died, and in 2013 she moved into assisted living in LaGrange, Georgia.
She is survived by; her two sons, K.C. (Suzanne) of Huntingtown, Maryland and Dan (Celeste Myall) of LaGrange, Georgia; her sister, Donna Beth Whitman of Paradise, Kansas; her five grandchildren, Caitrin McAlexander Huntzinger (John) of Ashton, Maryland, Noel Tarlton McAlexander (Stacey) of Austin, Texas, Ian Tarlton McAlexander (Joanna) of Elkton, Virginia, Anne Myall McAlexander (Carson Cerney) of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Alice Myall McAlexander (Warren Flood) of Detroit, Michigan; her five great grandchildren, Cormac Olson McAlexander, John Edward Huntzinger IV, Mary Blythe Huntzinger, Malcolm Lewis McAlexander-Flood, and Lorelei Anne McAlexander-Flood; and many wonderful nieces, nephews, and their children. Billie was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her infant brother Noel, and her younger brother, James Kirk Luder.
Owing to the pandemic, a private burial for immediate family will be held graveside at Hoisington Cemetery. A memorial service will be planned at a later date to celebrate her life.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church or to Kans for Kids Fighting Cancer Foundation, in care of Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home, PO Box 146, Hoisington, KS 67544.