Phillip Alexander

PHILLIP ALEXANDER

Marion

Phillip Ross Alexander, 79, of Marion, formerly of Delmar, passed away on Sunday, April 26, 2015, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. A memorial service celebrating Phillip's life will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 29, at the Carson Celebration of Life Center in Maquoketa. Cremation has taken place and a private burial will be held at the Evergreen Cemetery, Delmar.

Phillip Ross Alexander was born on Jan. 2, 1936, in Breckenridge, Mo., to Archie Dwight and Guyda (Millstead) Alexander. He grew up in Delmar and was a graduate of Delmar High School. He received his bachelor's degree in business administration from Coe College in Cedar Rapids and later his master's degree in California.

He married Gail Newgard and to this union four children were born, Phil, Todd, Chris and Tracy. He married Helen Stovall and to this union one child was born, Jessica. He later married Frances Hattendorf.

Phillip started out as a coach and teacher at State Center. He then moved to southern California where he began a career in the lighting industry first working as a commercial lighting manufacturers representative. He then became national sales manager of American Lantern in Newport, Ark. From 1985 to 1989, he was president and CEO of decorative lighting giant, Progress Lighting. He also served as president and CEO of Seattle Lighting Fixture Co., a distributor of retail, commercial and builder lighting products, and in 1999, a founder, with his sons, of a new concept lighting distributorship called Alexanders' Contractor Lighting. He built the company from ground zero into a multi-million dollar operation. From 1999 to 2002, he worked for Forecast Lighting where he was vice president and general manager. In 2003, he joined American Fluorescent and led its imple-mentation launch into the light commercial market and oversaw its OEM and hospitality divisions. After being retired for six months, he again worked in the lighting industry this time for Kichler as its vice president of sales and marketing.

Phillip was a member of and proud supporter of the Big Brothers Association of America. He was a strong proponent of boys being well educated, enjoyed mentoring at risk youth and inmates in maximum security prisons. He had written columns for the Cedar Rapids Gazette and had also served on the Marion City Council. He liked reading, squash, racquetball, golf and was an avid runner participating in marathons. He especially loved his labradoodle dog, "Dude."

Those left to honor Phillip's memory include his children, Phil Alexander of Seattle, Wash., Todd Alexander of Newport Beach, Calif., Chris (Elena) Snowdy of Lakewood, Calif., Tracy Hart of Chico, Calif., and Jessica (West) Koenen of Laguna Niguel, Calif.; sisters, Penny (Jerry) Lundeen of Bettendorf and Stephanie Mohr of Cedar Rapids; and six grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters.

In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, memorials may be made to the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Cedar Rapids & East Central Iowa, 3150 E Ave. NW, Suite 103, Cedar Rapids, IA 52405; (319) 377-8993; BeABigCR.org.

Online condolences may be left at www.Carson

AndSon.com.