By Barb Manning
Lois Alexander is the mother of four girls and a boy. Lois was born and raised in Georgia in the 1950s during a time when African Americans began to pushing for the social, economic, and political change. Lois grew up In the South in a period of increased racial tensions over segregation and voting rights. The situation prompted many African Americans to seek the safety of big city anonymity in the North. In 1959, encouraged by relatives already living in the North, and the need to escape a failed marriage, Lois’s mother, Hattie Lee left Georgia. She moved to Ohio and several months later, Lois, her husband, Joseph and their three daughters came to Ohio.
Times were difficult for Lois and Joseph and their family starting a new life in the North. By 1960, after the birth of their fourth daughter, Lois and Joseph separated. Despite growing up during a time when many did not see the need for an education beyond grade school and were happy to live their lives on Welfare, Lois went to trade school to become a surgical technician. Lois completed her education while raising four young girls with the support and help of her mother, Hattie. Lois was one of the first individuals in the family to receive any education beyond the basics of elementary and high school.
Lois’ new skills allowed her to take charge of her life after her divorce in the 1960s. She applied for and earned a position at the then Saint Vincent Hospital that gave her the income and independence to purchase her first car and then her first home. Both of these were big steps for a poor, African American girl from the South. Even so, she was smart enough to recognize that her first home was not in the best neighborhood, so some years later she entered a City of Toledo lottery for a dollar and won her second home. Through diligence and hard work she made her new home a place that anyone would be proud to live in. Indeed, it has won landscaping awards.
Lois has always been a very independent person. She seeks advice before making major decisions, but ultimately, she makes decisions about her life on her own terms. She does not make promises that she won’t or can’t keep. She tries to be honest, forthright, and fair with people. At the same time, she has small prejudices in her judgments that color her perceptions about things she sees on the news, or reads in the paper.
Lois believes that everyone should work for what they want. No one gets a free ride because they find themselves in a bad situation. She has a great work ethic and fostered that respect for work in most of her children. Sound finances are also important to her because her mother grew up during the Great Depression.
I struggled for sometime with the decision to write about my mother because my feelings color my perceptions of her, so it’s impossible to be objective. On occasion my mother has a short temper. She and my grandmother can be quarrelsome. On the other hand, they can find pleasure in silly things and have ongoing jokes between them. Lois makes quick decisions about things. For example, she once took her PT Cruiser in for servicing and came home with a new candy apple red, convertible.
I admire her for going to school and learning a marketable skill. She grew up during a period when it was very easy for women to stay at home and wait for Welfare and alimony checks to arrive in the mail all in the name of motherhood and raising children. I consider her a very successful business woman.
