USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: Obituary: Mrs Thelma Coleman Alex

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From: Yvette M Alex-Assensoh <yalex@uoregon.edu>
Date: November 28, 2016 at 3:44:31 PM EST
To: Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>
Cc: "Bisifalola@gmail.com" <Bisifalola@gmail.com>, "Assensoh, Akwasi B." <aassenso@indiana.edu>
Subject: RE: Obituary: Mrs Thelma Coleman Alex

Dear Professor Toyin:

 

I am writing to thank you, First Lady (Dr.) Bisi Falola and the other brothers and sisters on the USA-AFRICA DIALOGUE for the most comforting and encouraging words about my dear Mother. Our family was touched that SIR Toyin shared the news with all of you here in the USA and abroad through the Dialogue. 

 

My Mother had the honor of meeting SIR Toyin a few years ago in Eugene, Oregon, and she was totally impressed by his charm, intellect and kindness.  As he may recall, my Mother loved the good Lord with all her heart. Therefore,  we are confident that she is resting in the Lord's Kingdom, where there is no pain or misery. 

 

Interestingly, her favorite axiomatic saying was: "In all things, give Him thanks". Therefore, it was interesting  that she passed away on her own terms on Thanksgiving Day. While I miss her dearly, I am thankful to the Lord Almighty for blessing me to have her as my Mother.

 

 With Sir Toyin's help, we are completing my Mother's book of short stories to serve as a lasting legacy. Our family thanks all of you for the kind individual greetings and condolences that each of you took the time to send our way. AB, our sons and I are grateful to all of you. Again, many thanks for your warm and kind united spirits!

 

Yvette.

 

 

Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh, Ph.D., JD

Professor of Political Science &

Vice President, Equity and Inclusion

University of Oregon

Tel: 541-346-9170

Fax: 541-346-6576

Email: vpinclusion@uoregon.edu; yalex@uoregon.edu

 

From: Toyin Falola [mailto:toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu]
Sent: Saturday, November 26, 2016 9:37 AM
To: dialogue <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
Cc: Yvette M Alex-Assensoh <yalex@uoregon.edu>; ABDULKOG@Strose.edu; Abedin, Najmul <AbedinN@apsu.edu>; minapeggy@yahoo.com; aawomolo@cau.edu; sabidde@alasu.edu; sadamss2000@yahoo.com; aademiluyi@uncfsu.edu; dkadkins@smcm.edu; Osita Afoaku <osafoaku@indiana.edu>; agbonifo1@gmail.com; oaaidey@ilstu.edu; philip_aka@hotmail.com; nakinyem <nakinyem@kennesaw.edu>; Zayed hasanal <Zayed_hasanal@hotmail.com>; Manzur Alam <alammanzur123@gmail.com>; peanutminat@gmail.com; Yvette M Alex-Assensoh <yalex@uoregon.edu>; Roseanna almaee <Roseanna.almaee@darton.edu>; hakary m amin <hakary.m.amin@gmail.com>; Julius Amin <Julius.Amin@notes.udayton.edu>; Stephen-Anderson@trade.gov; andohs1@southernct.edu; Anene, John <anenej@cf.edu>; johnstoni@cortland.edu; A.B. B Assensoh <assensoh@uoregon.edu>; Craig Auchter <auchter@butler.edu>; tayot <tayot@northpark.edu>; theai <theai@earthlink.net>; nnkongo@howard.edu; bariagas@shu.edu; Fodei Batty <fodeib@gmail.com>; 包宗和 <bau@ntu.edu.tw>; Dr. E. 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Subject: Obituary: Mrs Thelma Coleman Alex

 

I bring sad news: Mrs Alex is dead. To those of you on this list, she is Yvette's mom, and A. B. Assensoh's mother-in-law. I met her, walking strong at the campus of Oregon University, and later entertaining me to nice stories at dinner time at the home of Yvette and AB. She completed a book that PAUP will be releasing in December, containing valuable stories. We thought she would see this book, but she died yesterday at the age of 84. She will be buried on Saturday, December 3, 2016.

May the kind Lord receive the soul of our mother, forgiver all her sins, and repose her spirit in eternal bliss.

May the Lord console and reside with the family in this hour of difficulty.

May the Lord give their children the fortitude and comfort to navigate this stormy sea.

May the almighty continue to strengthen Brother A.B. as he holds his community of family and friends together in times of joy and grief. 

 

Mrs Alex forthcoming book

Summary:

Thelma's Stories: The Life of Experiences An Overcomer recounts the many experiences that Mrs. Thelma Coleman Alex faced as she grew up a child of America's Great Depression. They revisit t the pain of being shuffled from house to house at the time, especially as her parents left home to find work to earn a living.  As a young girl, she faced challenges of living in grinding poverty as well as experiencing humor, love and compassion even in the midst of frequent troubles. Collectively, the stories invariably give voice to experiences and thoughts of many from a time that is often not remembered by many in American history. Above all, these carefully woven and presented stories reflect God's provision and protection, which shaped young Thelma Coleman's life into a resilient, compassionate and educated woman, who loved the Lord with all her heart. As an octogenarian, Mrs. Thelma Coleman Alex, affectionately called Grandma Felma by her grandchildren, sees her three grandchildren – Kwadwo, Livingston and Livia – as the joys of her life, hence she happily dedicated the publication to the three of them.  

 

Bio

Mrs. Thelma Coleman Alex, a native of Greensburg, Louisiana, was born on February 13, 1932  during the height of America's  Great Depression.  She is one of eleven children born to Mrs. Pinkie Pitts Coleman and Mr. Felbert Coleman. She earned a Bachelor's Degree from Southern University in Speech and Drama, and a Master's Degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL) in Lafayette, Louisiana.  On February 14, 1959, then Ms. Thelma Coleman married Rev. Livingston Alex, who together became parents to two daughters: Attorney Joslyn Renee Alex of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, and Professor Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh of Eugene, Oregon.  Together, Mrs. Alex and her late husband, Alex, served the parishioners of Bethlehem Baptist Church, which was pastored by  Rev. Alex  for 39 years until he went to be with the Lord on November 11, 1998. Before then, Mrs. Alex and her husband built and operated a day-care center that, for almost 30 years, served hundreds of children in the St. Martin Parish area; the center also prepared the children for academic successes and good citizenship. Mrs. Thelma Coleman Alex loved to write, entertain family as well as friends, read and travel nationally and internationally. Apart from serving on local and national boards, she worked for almost three decades as a school teacher and librarian in the St. Martin Parish School  System. This collection of stories is her first published book.

 

 

 

 

Toyin Falola

Department of History

The University of Texas at Austin

104 Inner Campus Drive

Austin, TX 78712-0220

USA

512 475 7224

512 475 7222 (fax)

http://sites.utexas.edu/yoruba-studies-review/

http://www.toyinfalola.com 

http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa  

http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs 

http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue