Joyce C. Alexander, 73, of Germantown, a worker for the City of Philadelphia and a longtime community volunteer, died Aug. 1 of lung cancer at the VNA of Philadelphia Hospice in East Falls.
Mrs. Alexander had worked in City Hall providing constituent services for Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller and earlier for the Mayor’s Office for Community Services. Before working for the city, she had been a department store clerk at John Wanamaker, a receptionist at the former Doctors Hospital in Center City, and a television assembly worker at Philco-Ford before the plant closed in the 1970s
Born in Philadelphia, she was a graduate of William Penn High School. She attended Wilford Academy, a school of cosmetology, and received her license as a cosmetologist in 1985.
Mrs. Alexander served on the board of directors of the Germantown Settlement and as a Democratic Committeewoman in the 59th Ward. When her son Shawn was killed by a gunman in Frankford in 2002, she volunteered with Mothers in Charge, which campaigns against gun violence and supports victims’ families.
She also was a member of the Northwest Action Committee, a group founded by State Rep. David P. Richardson Jr., and worked with him from 1991 to 1995 when he was leader of the 59th Ward.
She also was a member of Club 10, a social group that would sponsor an annual block party, donate backpacks with school supplies to children and feed the homeless.
She is survived by six grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
A life celebration service was held Aug. 12, at Mount Sinai Tabernacle Baptist Church, 2737 W. Lehigh Ave. Interment was private. – WF
