Alex Matthews, 84, a very long term Oak Parker, died peacefully on March 22, 2024 after a long-term struggle with dysphagia, a fancy word for trouble swallowing.
Alex, her first husband Darrel Brown, her daughter Demaris and son Ross, moved from Portland, Oregon, her hometown, to Oak Park in 1972. She was a stay-at-home mom who enjoyed making cookies and reading to her children at bedtime, but she also took on a part-time job as a stringer for Wednesday Journal and Oak Leaves. Then, she and her husband adopted a 3-year-old boy named Robin. All of the kids attended Oak Park public schools.
In 1979 she and her husband divorced. She determined a bachelor’s degree in English Literature was not sufficient to support a family and enrolled in a Master of Social Work program at George Williams College. Upon graduation, she started a private practice in her Oak Park home. Thus began the first great passion of her life: counseling individuals and couples with relationship issues.
At a singles event at Unity Temple, she met Allen Matthews, who became her husband after a five-year courtship. Life was going well for Alex. Her practice, her second marriage and her children were thriving. So she launched a new adventure, which became her second passion: She became an author of mystery novels.
It took five long years of writing and rewriting and submitting manuscripts. Then, she made one small revision — she changed the villain – and her manuscript became her first published book. Each of her 10 mysteries, which are set in Oak Park, has a murder, a cat story, and romance between her female protagonist and boyfriend. Alex thrived in this second great passion in her life while continuing her first passion, the practice of social work.
Alex is survived by her husband, Allen Matthews; her daughter, Demaris and granddaughters, Astarte (Star) and Iola; and her son, Robin and grandson, David.
Memorial service will be live in the sanctuary and on Zoom from Third Unitarian Church of Chicago at 11 a.m. on May 4. For more information or to get a Zoom link to participate online, call 773-626-9385 or email thirdunitarianchurch@gmail.com
Donations in her memory may be made to The Pantry at Third Unitarian Church of Chicago, 301 N. Mayfield Ave., Chicago, IL 60644.