Alexis Anne Alexander

Alexis Anne Alexander was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, May 22, 1973, and celebrated her 50th birthday at a Foo Fighters Concert. Her sheer joy at being in Dave Grohl’s presence was second only to last year’s luncheon with Dolly Parton at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion.

She is survived by her father, Lance Alexander (Glad), of Shreveport; mother, Ann Halford Graham, of Alexandria and fiancé James Drummond (Alexis approved); and brother, Ryan Alexander (Mary Katherine) of Shreveport, a tribe of devoted friends and her special daughter Lily Langston. All will miss her beyond measure.

After graduating from LSU-Shreveport, Alexis landed her first job at the El Dorado News Times, then worked at SouthArk and the Chamber of Commerce before finding her calling as Executive Director of the United Way, where she celebrated her 16th year August 6.

A consensus observation that “Alexis was El Dorado’s biggest cheerleader,” is spot on. But she didn’t know what a sideline was – Alexis was IN the game. For the community, for a friend, for a stranger, for hard work, for pure fun, Alexis was just always, always there.

The community is heartbroken for the parents she adored and who cherished Alexis – along with the grand dogs – PJ, Damn Sam, Dixie, Emmy, and Sadie. Her mom and dad became social media stars because Alexis never failed to post a happy picture of her visits with each of them.

The community is heartbroken for the United Way. Alexis embodied the organizations and its agencies, and if ever someone exemplified fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves – the least of these -- it was Alexis. She, along with the other non-profit mafia queenpins, were warriors for the underserved.

The community is heartbroken for itself. No leave-taking has so deeply affected so many people nor elicited as many spontaneous and sincere social media expressions of love and tales of personal adventures as has Alexis’s.

She may have left her Louisiana home for Arkansas, but Alexis’s heart was forever with her LSU Tigers. Yet her unwavering enthusiasm for LSU failed to alienate Arkansans, and in fact endeared her to even diehard Hog fans.

Had Alexis lived to be 100, her tributes still would have read, “She left us all too soon.”

A service of celebration and joy will be led by Salvation Army Major David Robinson at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, August 2 at the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium, 100 W. 8th Street. Services will be live streamed from the Murphy Arts District’s Facebook page. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to UCAPS, P.O. Box 204, or United Way, 200 N. Jefferson, both in El Dorado, 71730, or on-line at ucapsshelter.org/donate or http://www.unitedwayunioncounty.com/donate.html

Condolences may be expressed at www.youngsfuneralhome.com for the Alexander family.