John D. Alexander III
— John David Alexander III, 62, of Bomoseen, Vt., passed away May 3, 2022, peacefully at home with his wife and son-inlaw by his side after a valiant fight against head and neck cancer. He was grateful for the care given to him at the Foley Cancer Center in Rutland, Vt. and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital in Hanover, N.H.
Born Jan. 12, 1960, in San Rafael, Calif., to John David Alexander Jr. and his wife of 54 years Catharine (Coleman) Alexander, John spent his early years in Memphis, Tenn., before the family moved to Claremont California in 1969. In Claremont, he attended public schools until he went to high school when he attended The Webb School, graduating in 1978.
After traveling widely in Europe with his family, he spent a summer during high school with a German family and welcomed his German “brother” to Claremont for a summer. With this exchange and thanks to his teachers he became passionate about German language, history, and culture. Taking a gap year, he attended Brentwood School in England through the auspices of the English-Speaking Union exchange program. He attended Middlebury College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in German after spending his junior year abroad in Munich. He earned a Master of Arts in German with a year of study at Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Germany, and later earned his certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of California.
John loved teaching high school students. Over his 30-year career, he taught history, English, German, and English as a Second Language. He taught at a wide range of independent schools in Connecticut, Texas, New Jersey, California, and New York. He also coached soccer, basketball and baseball at several schools. A colleague at Hamden Hall High School in Connecticut once described John’s teaching demeanor as “… the same with students and colleagues alike — calm and comfortable. With those students who appreciate his dry sense of humor and educated wit, John banters and baits. He has a wealth of knowledge (of both worthwhile and totally trivial facts!) and shares it with anyone who can rise to the challenge. With those who can’t, he is caring and sweet. Similarly, with the adults around him, John is low-key and modest, his orientation to his world is clearly intellectual —although never pompous. He can be found each morning around a table in the dining hall discussing current affairs, sports, films and anything else that comes up. His California upbringings, his New England education, his Southern heritage and his European travels and studies enable John to adapt to just about any situation in the world.”
John’s favorite pastime was reading, particularly about history and military conflicts, and he amassed a substantial library on these subjects. He also followed his favorite team, Arsenal, after attending football (soccer) matches during his years in Europe. He loved mysteries, model trains, Monty Python, The Marx Brothers, and The Three Stooges. Most nights you could find him with his teams playing trivia or darts or caring for his rescued cats Milo, Costa, Ralph and Trudy.
John met the love of his life, Martie, later in life, and they were married in 2016 in Norwich surrounded by their families, Martie’s adult children Gregory and Rebecca Miller standing by their sides. The couple enjoyed hiking, exploring historical homes and museums, and were always willing to explore a new book or antique store together. Watching Rebecca and Lowell White get married in 2020 and attending the home birth of their grandson, Killian, in November of 2021 were some of his most precious memories with his new family.
John and Martie bought their first home in Bomoseen, Vt., hoping to spend their retirement years exploring all its beauty and settling in with new friends. He leaves behind his wife, Martie; his mother Catharine Alexander of Claremont, Calif.; his sisters and brother-in-law Kitty Shirley, Julia Marciari-Alexander, and Bill Shirley; as well as his nieces and nephews, Alexander, Oliver and Teddy Shirley and Beatrice and Jack Marciari. John loved being an uncle and proudly wore his nickname “Uncle Cookie.”
A service of remembrance will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 18, at Park Congregational Church, 283 Broadway, Norwich. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Middlebury Language School, 700 Exchange St., Middlebury, VT 05753 or online at go.middlebury.edu/give.