Joann Alexander, 86, a member of the Milan, Tennessee, Cumberland Presbyterian Church (West Tennessee Presbytery) and wife of the Reverend Merlyn Alexander, died on July 18, 2020, after a brief period of hospice care. Joann served as president during the 1976-1977 Cumberland Presbyterian Women’s Convention year.

Edith Joann Kitterman was born to the Reverand William Wesley “W.W.” Kitterman, known as the Flying Parson, and Mary Helen Friend Kitterman in Monnett, Missouri, on January 26, 1934. Her father served pastorates in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas.

Joann married Merlyn Allan Alexander on September 5, 1952, at First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, Texas, Merlyn’s home church and where her father was pastor. He performed the ceremony. Joann and Merlyn were both students at Bethel College in McKenzie, Tennessee, and Merlyn was serving Gill’s Chapel near Guthrie, Kentucky, and New Hope near McKenzie. When Merlyn was ordained by Dallas Presbytery in December of 1952, W.W. Kitterman preached the ordination sermon for his son-in-law. Joann and Merlyn had two children, William Allan and Dewana Darlene (Latimer).

Joann said her church activities include being involved in Cumberland Presbyterian Women, singing in the choir, serving on worship committees, and participating in church camps and Christian education. In her ministry, she strove to be inclusive. As a minister’s daughter and later as a clergy spouse, she participated in the activities of a wide swath of presbyteries including Hopewell, Indiana, Birmingham, Logan, Memphis, Springfield-Bethel, Oklahoma Western, Caddo, Madison, and West Tennessee.