RICHARD MELVILLE ALFORD

AAFA #0633

1925 IL – 2009 ID

 

Photo from Mountain View Funeral Home

 

LEWISTON MORNING TRIBUNE

Lewiston, Nez Perce Co., ID—8 January 2009

 

            Dr. Richard (Dick) Alford passed away Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, at Lewiston.

            Richard Melville Alford was born May 21, 1925, to Fred E. and Lillie M. Nelson Alford in Waukegan, Ill. He graduated from Waukegan High School in February 1943, and then entered the University of Michigan as a pre-med student. During World War II he served in the Navy College program, receiving his Bachelor of Science degree at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., in 1945, and entering the University of Michigan Medical School in October 1945. He graduated from medical school in 1949 and did his internship at Research Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. He went on active duty again in the Navy with about eight months duty in the Korean Theater. While on active duty, he met Roberta (Connie) Jean Conrad of Orinda, Calif., on a blind date in San Francisco.

            Following his service in the Navy, he spent one year in a general practice residency at Ravenswood Hospital in Chicago. While there, he married Connie on Feb. 21, 1953. He was offered a position with one of the doctors at Ravenswood to enter private practice and accepted. After 14 years of practice in Chicago, and the birth of three children, they decided it was too crowded and chose to come to Lewiston to get away, going into practice with Drs. Baldeck and Bond at the Clearwater Valley Medical Center. He was one of those instrumental in starting the present Valley Medical Center. Dick was active in the American Academy of Family Practice and served as president of the Idaho chapter for one year. He was the medical director of the Lewiston Care Center for 17 years. After 27 years of practice in Lewiston, he retired.

            During retirement, he became interested in genealogy and, with the aid of the Alford American Family Association, was able to trace his family ancestry back to the 1400s. He later served two years as president of that association. He also learned that he and "Butch" Alford have a common ancestor who came to New England in the early 1630s. He was also a member of the local genealogical society.

            Dick was a lifelong Methodist, serving on many church boards and was one of the founders of the Good Shepherd Methodist Church in Park Ridge, Ill. His love of God continued in the family's move in 1967 to Lewiston, where he was a member of First United Methodist Church of Lewiston. Dick was a dedicated member of The Gideons International and was active in Habitat for Humanity, Nez Perce County Historical Society and the Lewiston Foundation of Education Boards. He had a passionate interest in researching the use of T3 in thyroid medication, settling on the natural desiccated thyroid as being the alternative to T4. (He delivered more than 700 babies, with only two being premature). He wrote many letters to the Tribune sharing his beliefs.

            He is survived by Connie, his wife of 55 years daughter Carolyn of Moscow a son, Craig Alford and his wife, Mary, of Renton, Wash. and a daughter, Merry Warr and her husband, Wayne, of Twin Falls grandchildren Mark and Jessica Moore of Seattle, Craig Alford, USN, of Brunswick, Maine, David, Scott and Peter Alford of Renton a brother, Harold Alford and wife, Edie, of Mountain Home, Ark. cousins Jim LeFebvre and his wife, Karel, of Santa Rosa, Calif., Gale LeFebvre and his wife, Mary, of Kenai, Alaska, and Don Johnson and his wife, DeEtte, of Annandale, Va.

            A memorial service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Lewiston First United Methodist Church, 1906 Broadview Drive, Lewiston. A reception will follow in Fellowship Hall…. Mountain View Funeral Home in Lewiston is handling arrangements….

 

Photo from Normal Hill Cemetery, Lewiston, Nez Perce Co., ID—www.findagrave.com

Permission granted by the photographer, Kerry

 

AAFA NOTES: SSDI records confirm the birth and death dates of Richard M. Alford (SS# issued in IL), last residence Lewiston, Nez Perce Co., ID.

            Dick was the fifth president of the Alford American Family Association, serving 1999–2001. He attended every AAFA Annual Meeting from 1996–2002.

            Dick wrote a “Getting to Know” article about himself that we published in the Spring 2001 issue (#52) of AAFA ACTION.

            For more information about this family, see AAFA’s published genealogy,

Known Descendants of Benedict Alford and Joan Newton.

            His lineage: Richard Melville 1925 IL¹, Fred Eugene 1890 IL², Ernest Cutler 1861 IA³, Wyllis Duane 1829 NY⁴, Orison 1806 NY⁵, Abner 1767 MA⁶, Elijah 1732 CT⁷, Josiah 1696 CT⁸, Josias 1649 CT⁹, Benedict 1619 England¹⁰, Thomas 1598 England¹¹.