Click image to enlarge.
www.al.com
The Huntsville Times
Huntsville, Alabama
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Mrs. Lois Alcott
August 03, 1922 - June 22, 2013
Lois Alcott, 90, a loving mother, grandmother, and sister who called her extended family members weekly, passed away on Saturday, June 22 surrounded by her loved ones. Lois, the 6th of 12 children, was born in Oklahoma to Jesse and Odie (Williams) Ray. The Ray family moved near Marlin, Texas, during the Dust Bowl Days to be near extended family. Lois graduated from Ben Hur High School in Limestone County, Texas in 1940. She later moved to Houston to live with her sister, and soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Lois became a welder at Hughes Tool Company. As a "Wilma the Welder," she worked in intense heat to assemble cones for drills that were used to repair metal on ships for the Allied forces. During WWII, four of Lois' brothers and one sister were in the military, and Lois was proud to support the U.S. cause.
In late 1942, while volunteering at a USO canteen, Lois met Army Air Corps Cadet Russell Jay Alcott, a native of New York. They married in Odessa, Texas, in April 1943. A year later, she received a telegram informing her that her husband was missing in action over Germany. A few months later, she received his 1st Lieutenant bar and an oak leaf cluster for his Air Medal. Lt. Alcott survived and spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp.
After time spent in Colorado, New York, and Mississippi, the Alcotts moved to Huntsville in 1954, where Russell took a job with the Army and later worked at NASA as an electrical engineer. Lois was an active member of both the Rebecca Circle at Trinity United Methodist Church and Cents and Sensibility Investment Club. She was also a member of Hunt's Spring Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution and a past member of MARS Women's Club and the Huntsville Woman's Club. She served as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels for 25 years and served in Vacation Bible School.
Lois was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, Russell Jay Alcott and a grandson, Zachary Thomas Pope. She is survived by her daughters, Linda Alcott (James H.) Maples, Susan Alcott (Benny T.) Pope, and her son, Russell J. Alcott, Jr., who was her constant caregiver during her extended illness. Additionally, she is survived by her grandsons, Jay Guerin Maples of Birmingham and Andrew Thomas Pope of Huntsville, a sister, Wanda Havranek of Arlington, Texas, a brother, Lester Ray of Keithsville, Louisiana, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be Wednesday, June 26 from 12:00 to 2:00 at Trinity United Methodist Church on Airport Road. The funeral service will follow at 2:00. Burial will take place at Valhalla Memory Gardens. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Meals on Wheels, the Mission fund at Trinity United Methodist Church or a favorite charity.
Valhalla Funeral Home and Memory Gardens
698 Winchester Rd Northeast
Huntsville, AL 35811
valhallafunerals@stei.com
Tel. (256) 852-8500
The Huntsville Times
Huntsville, Alabama
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Mrs. Lois Alcott
August 03, 1922 - June 22, 2013
Lois Alcott, 90, a loving mother, grandmother, and sister who called her extended family members weekly, passed away on Saturday, June 22 surrounded by her loved ones. Lois, the 6th of 12 children, was born in Oklahoma to Jesse and Odie (Williams) Ray. The Ray family moved near Marlin, Texas, during the Dust Bowl Days to be near extended family. Lois graduated from Ben Hur High School in Limestone County, Texas in 1940. She later moved to Houston to live with her sister, and soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Lois became a welder at Hughes Tool Company. As a "Wilma the Welder," she worked in intense heat to assemble cones for drills that were used to repair metal on ships for the Allied forces. During WWII, four of Lois' brothers and one sister were in the military, and Lois was proud to support the U.S. cause.
In late 1942, while volunteering at a USO canteen, Lois met Army Air Corps Cadet Russell Jay Alcott, a native of New York. They married in Odessa, Texas, in April 1943. A year later, she received a telegram informing her that her husband was missing in action over Germany. A few months later, she received his 1st Lieutenant bar and an oak leaf cluster for his Air Medal. Lt. Alcott survived and spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp.
After time spent in Colorado, New York, and Mississippi, the Alcotts moved to Huntsville in 1954, where Russell took a job with the Army and later worked at NASA as an electrical engineer. Lois was an active member of both the Rebecca Circle at Trinity United Methodist Church and Cents and Sensibility Investment Club. She was also a member of Hunt's Spring Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution and a past member of MARS Women's Club and the Huntsville Woman's Club. She served as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels for 25 years and served in Vacation Bible School.
Lois was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, Russell Jay Alcott and a grandson, Zachary Thomas Pope. She is survived by her daughters, Linda Alcott (James H.) Maples, Susan Alcott (Benny T.) Pope, and her son, Russell J. Alcott, Jr., who was her constant caregiver during her extended illness. Additionally, she is survived by her grandsons, Jay Guerin Maples of Birmingham and Andrew Thomas Pope of Huntsville, a sister, Wanda Havranek of Arlington, Texas, a brother, Lester Ray of Keithsville, Louisiana, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be Wednesday, June 26 from 12:00 to 2:00 at Trinity United Methodist Church on Airport Road. The funeral service will follow at 2:00. Burial will take place at Valhalla Memory Gardens. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Meals on Wheels, the Mission fund at Trinity United Methodist Church or a favorite charity.
Valhalla Funeral Home and Memory Gardens
698 Winchester Rd Northeast
Huntsville, AL 35811
valhallafunerals@stei.com
Tel. (256) 852-8500