Obituary for Myra Pound Alwes
Myra Alwes—great - grandmother, grandmother, mother, wife and friend to many—departed this life on Monday, November 26, 2018 at 9 p.m. The second of two daughters born in 1922 to John Lee and Cleo Mills Pound, Myra was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Chester (Ches) L. Alwes (2013), her sister Mildred Derr (2018) and, most sadly, her daughter Marjorie Winham (2001).
She is survived by her other three children and their spouses: Chester L. Alwes, Jr. (Marlys Scarbrough, Mahomet, IL), Mary Ann Megahee (Kim, Lilburn, GA) and Mark Alwes (Lauren Clark Alwes, Duluth, GA); three nieces: Barbara D. Henderson (Rollingsford, NH), Janet Dixon (Denver, CO) and Patricia D. Holloway (Midway, KY); twelve grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.
Myra and Ches married in Portland, Oregon, in May 1945, while Ches was on a brief leave from active duty in the U.S. Navy, but they settled in Louisville after the war to raise their family in the city of their births. While she was raising her family, Myra was a stay-at-home Mom; in later life, she worked for Citizen’s Fidelity Bank, the same bank where her father had worked. Major highlights of her life included many summer days swimming and sunning with friends at Lakeside Swim Club as well as family vacations to the Florida coast. In Ches’ retirement, they traveled quite a bit, enjoying the National Parks of the southwestern United States and a Fall Foliage drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Ches and Myra were members of an informal group of friends comprised of couples they called “The Gang.” The group enjoyed dinner parties, family picnics and playing canasta. As part of an increasingly mobile contemporary culture, Myra, Ches and their close circle of friends were part of an increasingly rare phenomenon of people who spent their entire lives in Louisville, a city they loved deeply.
Throughout her life, she was extremely active in four Baptist churches in Louisville—Clifton Baptist (where she and Ches met), Bethany Baptist, Bashford Manor Baptist Church and most recently the First Baptist Church of Middletown. Her involvement with the church also led her to serve on the Board of the Long Run Association of Baptists. As age limited their mobility, Ches and Myra moved to the Forum at Brookside on Shelbyville Road in 2008. Myra was delighted to find that she knew so many of the residents and particularly enjoyed the diversity of programs that were available. She had a lifelong love of music, playing violin in her early years and singing in church choirs, with the Southern Baptist Seminary Oratorio Society and an ad hoc chorus at the Forum.
Her family was very important to her, and she delighted in (and was never shy telling people about) the lives and accomplishments of her children and grand-children.
A Visitation will be held on Sunday, December 2nd, 2:00-6:00pm at Highlands Funeral Home 3331Taylorsville Rd.
Funeral services will take place at First Baptist Church of Middletown, 11721 Main St. on Monday, December 3rd at 11:00 a.m. with entombment at Evergreen Cemetery immediately afterwards.
In lieu of flowers, the family invites memorial gifts to First Baptist Church of Middletown or donations to the Macular Degeneration Foundation (EyeSight.org).
She is survived by her other three children and their spouses: Chester L. Alwes, Jr. (Marlys Scarbrough, Mahomet, IL), Mary Ann Megahee (Kim, Lilburn, GA) and Mark Alwes (Lauren Clark Alwes, Duluth, GA); three nieces: Barbara D. Henderson (Rollingsford, NH), Janet Dixon (Denver, CO) and Patricia D. Holloway (Midway, KY); twelve grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.
Myra and Ches married in Portland, Oregon, in May 1945, while Ches was on a brief leave from active duty in the U.S. Navy, but they settled in Louisville after the war to raise their family in the city of their births. While she was raising her family, Myra was a stay-at-home Mom; in later life, she worked for Citizen’s Fidelity Bank, the same bank where her father had worked. Major highlights of her life included many summer days swimming and sunning with friends at Lakeside Swim Club as well as family vacations to the Florida coast. In Ches’ retirement, they traveled quite a bit, enjoying the National Parks of the southwestern United States and a Fall Foliage drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Ches and Myra were members of an informal group of friends comprised of couples they called “The Gang.” The group enjoyed dinner parties, family picnics and playing canasta. As part of an increasingly mobile contemporary culture, Myra, Ches and their close circle of friends were part of an increasingly rare phenomenon of people who spent their entire lives in Louisville, a city they loved deeply.
Throughout her life, she was extremely active in four Baptist churches in Louisville—Clifton Baptist (where she and Ches met), Bethany Baptist, Bashford Manor Baptist Church and most recently the First Baptist Church of Middletown. Her involvement with the church also led her to serve on the Board of the Long Run Association of Baptists. As age limited their mobility, Ches and Myra moved to the Forum at Brookside on Shelbyville Road in 2008. Myra was delighted to find that she knew so many of the residents and particularly enjoyed the diversity of programs that were available. She had a lifelong love of music, playing violin in her early years and singing in church choirs, with the Southern Baptist Seminary Oratorio Society and an ad hoc chorus at the Forum.
Her family was very important to her, and she delighted in (and was never shy telling people about) the lives and accomplishments of her children and grand-children.
A Visitation will be held on Sunday, December 2nd, 2:00-6:00pm at Highlands Funeral Home 3331Taylorsville Rd.
Funeral services will take place at First Baptist Church of Middletown, 11721 Main St. on Monday, December 3rd at 11:00 a.m. with entombment at Evergreen Cemetery immediately afterwards.
In lieu of flowers, the family invites memorial gifts to First Baptist Church of Middletown or donations to the Macular Degeneration Foundation (EyeSight.org).