CHARLOTTE R. MEADOWS ALFORD

Wife of Cecil Wylie Alford, AAFA #0012

1917-2003

 

 

Cecil Wylie and Charlotte at the 1990 AAFA Annual Meeting in Raleigh, NC

 

 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

Denver, CO—21 January 2003

 

            Charlotte Meadows Alford of Denver. Preceded in death by husband, Cecil Wylie Alford and son, Wylie Robbins Alford. Mother of Dixie L. Alford, Denver, CO., and Mary Ann Alford, Washington, D.C.

            Graduated from Charleston General Hospital School of Nursing in 1941; received BS from Texas Christian University in 1949. Member of the United States Army Nursing Corp as First Lieutenant during WWII. She married Wylie Alford on March 20, 1943. Charlotte first worked as a nurse and then as a nursing instructor. She founded two schools, Watts Hospital Nursing School, Durham, N.C., and Baptist Hospital Nursing School, Winston Salem, N.C. In subsequent years she worked as nursing supervisor in Fairfax, VA and Denver, CO. She was active in many civic and church organizations and was a voracious reader and an avid bridge player.

            Visitation, Wednesday, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 1091 S. Colorado Blvd. Funeral service, Thursday, 1:30 p.m., at Central Christian Church, 3690 Cherry Creek S. Dr. Private interment, Fort Logan National Cemetery....

 

In another article:

 

DENVER POST

Denver, CO—27 January 2003

 

Nursing school founder Alford rose to challenges

By Virginia Culver

 

            It never occurred to Charlotte Meadows Alford that there was something she couldn't do, said her daughter, Mary Ann Alford.

            In her 85 years, Alford founded two nursing schools, served as a nurse in the U.S. Army, wrote five books on genealogy and, with her husband, raised two daughters.

            The only thing she ever "flunked" was being too tiny when she first applied for nursing school. She had to gain almost 10 pounds to get up to the required 100. She graduated from Charlotte General Hospital School of Nursing in Charlotte, W.Va.

            Alford died of complications from Alzheimer's disease at Love and Faith Senior Care Home in Aurora on Jan. 18. Her husband, Cecil Wylie Alford, died last October. They would have observed their 60th anniversary in March.

            The two were close, their daughters said, despite their demanding and different careers. They managed to relocate for new jobs and raise their family with seeming ease.

            Charlotte Meadows had just launched her nursing career one month after Pearl Harbor when she learned the Army needed nurses. She served at Fort Knox, Ky., and Lockbourne Air Base in Columbus, Ohio. She met her future husband there one New Year's Eve.

            Meadows, a first lieutenant, was already engaged, but she finally went out with 2nd Lt. Cecil Wylie Alford. By February, they were engaged. She married Alford on March 20, 1943, in Columbus.

            When her husband was discharged, he sailed back to the United States from England. He won enough money playing poker to make a down payment on a home for his family.

            "He could have been a professional poker player," said daughter Dixie Alford.

            Wylie and Charlotte earned degrees at Texas Christian University. They moved to North Carolina, where he earned a doctorate in clinical psychology and sociology from Duke University and she worked at a hospital.

            Charlotte Alford established a nursing school in Durham, N.C., where she was director and instructor. She started a second one about five years later in Winston Salem, N.C.

            "She was spunky and forceful," said Dixie Alford, and "held on like a pit bull."

            The Alfords later moved to Fort Worth, where he taught at Texas Christian. They later moved again to Vienna, Va., when he was called back as an Air Force reservist during the Vietnam War. He was chief of staff for manpower and Reserve affairs.

            In 1972, the couple moved to Denver, where she became a supervisor in the emergency room at Aurora Humana Hospital.

            The Alfords became active in Central Christian Church, where he was working.

            Charlotte Alford was an avid bridge player.

            She read about five books a week and began lengthy genealogy research on the Alford and Meadows families. The research resulted in five books.

            Charlotte Alford loved to entertain, and she and her husband liked to dance, "though Mother had a tin ear," said Dixie Alford.

            Mary Ann Alford described her mother as someone "who did multi-tasking before it was talked about. She had great organizational skills."

            Charlotte Meadows Alford was preceded in death by two brothers and a son, Wylie Robbins Alford.

 

AAFA NOTES: SSDI records show that Charlotte M. Alford (SS #234-10-8879 issued in WV) was born 8 March 1917.