MARYVILLE, Tenn. — Leslee Kathryn Buhler Alexander, the spouse of former Tennessee governor and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and a longtime household and kids’s well being advocate, has died at age 77, her household mentioned Sunday.
Often known as “Honey,” Alexander was surrounded by her household when she died Saturday at her residence exterior of the Tennessee metropolis of Maryville, her household mentioned in an announcement.
She was married for 53 years to Lamar Alexander, a Republican who served as Tennessee’s governor from 1979 to 1987, and campaigned for him all through his political profession. He additionally served as U.S. training secretary beneath President George H.W. Bush, ran for president and spent three phrases within the U.S. Senate earlier than retiring in 2020.
Whereas her husband was governor, Alexander led the statewide Wholesome Kids Initiative, which sought to offer prenatal well being care for youngsters. She was a member of the 1985-1986 Southern Regional Process Pressure on Toddler Mortality, the governor’s job forces on day care and youth alcohol and drug abuse, and the U.S. Well being Secretary’s Council on Well being Promotion and Illness Prevention, her household’s assertion mentioned.
She additionally co-founded Management Nashville in 1976 and served on many boards, together with the Junior League of Nashville and the Hermitage. She additionally had been vice-chairman of the Company for Public Broadcasting and a board member of Household Service America and the Nationwide Archives Basis, the assertion mentioned.
The Honey Alexander Middle, situated on the Nashville nonprofit Household and Kids’s Service, opened in 2019.
“Our expensive ‘Honey’ was humorous, loving, at all times caring, unselfish and brave,” her household mentioned within the assertion. “We’re so lucky to have spent our lives together with her. We are going to miss her daily.”
Honey Alexander was born Oct. 12, 1945, in Los Angeles. She was working for U.S. Sen. John Tower of Texas when she met her future husband, who was a staffer for U.S. Sen. Howard Baker Jr. of Tennessee, throughout a softball sport between the 2 staffs in 1967, her household mentioned. They married in 1969.
Honey Alexander preferred to jog, plant flowers and skim historic novels, her household mentioned. She additionally beloved to spend time together with her youngsters and grandchildren, her household mentioned.
In an announcement, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, mentioned Honey Alexander “modeled grace, charity, and public service.” Republican Tennessee Gov. Invoice Lee mentioned on Twitter that she “devoted her life to serving others & made a profound impression by means of her work to assist youngsters & households.”
Honey Alexander can be remembered at a personal graveside service for relations and at a memorial service to be held later at Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville, the household mentioned.
