Nicholas M Alexander
June 30, 1925 - November 5, 2023
Nick Alexander passed away peacefully on November 5, 2023, with his family by his side.
Nick was born June 30, 1925, in Boise, Idaho and he was the youngest of six children for Bella & Michael Alexander, Greek immigrants from a small village in the Peloponnesus. Mike worked seven days a week running “Mike Alexander’s Confectionary” store where he sold groceries, newspapers magazines, ice cream, candy bars, tobacco and just about everything else.
As soon as they could, each child worked in the store. All six children were very bright, talented, hardworking and totally fluent in English and Greek. As the Alexander children matured, Mike had a very powerful and costeffective work force!
As the youngest son, Nick delivered newspapers, but he also loved baseball. Some of Mike’s newspaper delivery service customers received their papers late because their delivery boy was tied up in a baseball game! Nick was a good
hitting outfielder for Boise High School and Boise Junior College (now Boise State University) before World War II.
Nick’s exceptional academic talent was very apparent at a young age. At the beginning of his 4th grade school year, his teacher thought that Nick was not trying because he was turning in math exams before the other students. When she realized that Nick had earned 100% grades on each of the first four exams, the teacher recommended that Nick “skip” the 4th grade. Bella & Mike agreed and Nick was immediately advanced to 5th grade.
During World War II, Nick served in Patton’s Army, from August 1943 to October 1945 and he participated in 5 European Battle Campaigns. The Ardennes Campaign included the Battle of the Bulge where they rescued 101st Airborne division. They liberated the first concentration camp at Ohrdruf, Germany. Even though he only served for 26 months, Nick was heavily decorated. Most notably, Nick was awarded the Silver Star of Bravery for rescuing a wounded GI in no-man’s in the face of enemy tank and machine gun fire.
When Nick returned from World War II, he was highly motivated to pursue studies in Biochemistry. With support from the GI Bill, Nick completed his undergraduate and PhD degrees at UC Berkeley. Through a club for Greek Americans at Cal, Nick became good friends with Peter Angelides. Peter was also very bright and pleasant and like Nick, he loved sports. Pete introduced Nick to his “very attractive” sister Penny. After a brief courtship, Penny & Nick were married on February 1, 1953. Leon was born in 1954. In 1955, Nick was offered a Professorship at Yale Medical School and the family moved to New Haven, Connecticut. Michael was born in 1956, the family moved to suburban Orange in 1958 and George was born in 1959.
In 1960, Nick earned the Van Meter Award from the American Thyroid Association for discovering a key enzyme in the thyroid gland that produces thyroid hormone from iodine.
When UCSD was building its top medical school, a biochemist was needed, and Nick was referred to UCSD by one of his colleagues at Yale. In 1970, Nick became a Professor at UCSD School of Medicine and the family moved from Connecticut to La Jolla, California.
Nick continued to excel professionally and by the time of his retirement, he was the Director of Clinical Chemistry, had an appointment in the Department of Pathology and had published more than 100 peer-reviewed research papers.
Nick was a frequent speaker at scientific conferences all over the world and he served as a Visiting Professor in Shiraz, Iran in 1977 and at the University of Brussels in 1986. Penny traveled with Nick to most of the meetings and they had a wonderful time visiting many countries.
Penny & Nick loved to socialize, and they were a very fun couple! Nick picked up golf and tennis as an adult; he was good at both and enjoyed playing with family and friends.
Nick was truly part of the Greatest Generation: raised by immigrant parents during the Great Depression, fought in World War II, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees with help from the GI Bill, and had a very successful scientific career.
More important than his notable professional accomplishments, Nick was an incredibly dedicated, compassionate, humble and loving son, brother, husband, father, uncle, grandfather, great grandfather and friend. Nick was always available to help his family and he was a world class tutor on any subject!
Nick was a gifted writer and public speaker, and he had a subtle, understated sense of humor. Nick had an open and relaxed way of conversing and he interacted effortlessly with virtually everyone from any walk of life.
With his nimble mind and great interpersonal instincts, Nick quickly learned about someone’s background and what was important to them. Nick was always genuinely interested in other people, and he was very well liked. Even in his final days when he was not feeling well, Nick would always smile and say: “It’s great to see you! How are you doing and how is the family?”
Nick was preceded in death by his five wonderful siblings, Aleck, Helen, Mary, Jenny and Chris and by his beloved wife of more than 70 years, Penny. Nick is survived by his sons, Leon (John), Michael (Steve), George (Lisa), four grandchildren, one great granddaughter and several nieces and nephews. Nick will be missed by all but after more than 98 years, he lived an incredible life to the fullest. Nick is now reunited with Penny and together, they are at peace.
Funeral services will be held at St Constantine and Helen’s Greek Orthodox Church in Cardiff. Trisagion 12/7/23 Thursday 6 pm, traditional service 12/8/23 Friday 10:30 am, followed by luncheon reception.