Roscoe Alexander's memorial service was held today. A good representation of his bridge buddies was present, including Jim Logan, who wrote the following tribute. Jim also wanted people to see this picture of Roscoe and the immortal boxer, Joe Lewis (right) with Roscoe. (If you look closely, you can make out Joe Lewis' signature, sideways, on top of his jacket.)

You may also want to read the Daily Recap article celebrating Roscoe's 95th birthday, here.

As told by Jim Logan:

"Roscoe had a way of expressing his desires, so as to leave no doubt. I asked him if he wanted me to relate some of his experiences at his memorial service. He said, “Tell them all, don’t leave anything out!

"Roscoe loved the number 13. He was born in the 13th hour on June 13th, which was a Friday, in the year 1913. He died in the 13th hour of Jan 20, 2009. The digits of the year 2009 and the day he died (20) add up to 13.

"Roscoe played in all the big bridge tournaments, after African-Americans were allowed to join the ACBL.. One year he won the National Pairs for the district of Washington D.C. A reporter for the Washington Post wanted to write an article on this unknown pair. But interest was suddenly lost when they discovered that this was a black partnership from the ABA that had won this prestigious event.

"Roscoe was married on Saturday, December 6th, 1941. great timing; the day before Pearl Harbor. Being in the Army he was assigned to Fort Dix, while his new bride was living in New York City. Roscoe kept asking for some leave time to see his new bride, but no response was forthcoming. So Roscoe went AWOL and headed to New York. After a week in New York, his wife and family said to Roscoe, “You better go back”. He thought for awhile and said “Well one week or 2 weeks won’t make much difference. So he stayed another week.

"When he returned, he crept into the barracks in the middle of the night. and was awakened by the Captain, banging his stick on Roscoe’s steel bunk. “Where have you been? Roscoe said, “Captain, I told you I needed to see my new bride and never got an answer. So, I had no choice. The Captain told the barracks Corporal to take Roscoe up to the Hill.

"The Hill was where Fox Holes were dug as punishment. So Roscoe was escorted up the hill and instructed to dig a foxhole. They were to return in the afternoon to check on him. Roscoe lay down and drew the outline of the foxhole, being over 6 feet tall; this was going to be a big foxhole. He scraped off about an inch of dirt and then lay down and took a nap. Upon the captain and corporal’s return, they said “Alexander, which foxhole did you dig?” He could have pointed to any of the numerous previously dug foxholes, but he pointed to his one inch outline. The astonished Captain said, “Make Alexander a Corporal. We need men like this”.

"While in France during a heavy shelling from the Germans, Roscoe was huddled behind a tank. He was now a sergeant and saw a private scared and crying about 20 yards from him. He called the private over and comforted him, reassuring him that all would be O.K. When back in the barracks the Private thanked Roscoe and asked him how he could be so calm. Roscoe said, “I can’t die now, I’ve got too much talking and living to do”.

"Joe Louis, the heavy weight boxing champion of the world, was assigned to Roscoe’s barrack. Roscoe said to Joe Louis, “You might be the champ, but I got the lower bunk and you got the top”.

"Roscoe had a very good job in Washington after his service time. He was comptroller for a company that owned all the vending machines in all of Washington. He was known as Alex and had a million dollar bank to balance every day from the vendor returns. One day an employee said, “Alex, you could afford a nice car.” Alex said, “Do you know what kind of car the president of this company drives?” “No” was his reply. “Well it’s 1 year younger than mine, and I’m not dumb enough to drive a car better than the company president’s !!

"Roscoe lived across the street from us on Inverary Lane in Timber Pines. I met Roscoe in the year 2000. I found out he used to play bridge, but gave it up 25 years ago. I encouraged him to play bridge at our home with his friend Gene Brown, Anne & myself. We had some great games and then we went to the duplicate games on Wednesday nights at Timber Pines. The first night we showed up, the director had the misfortune of asking me if I had an activity bracelet for my guest. OH BOY !! Roscoe said, “Jim’s lived here for 6 months and I’ve lived here for 12 years !! Nervous and apologetic, Roscoe was allowed to play. We came in first, 10 straight weeks. Then we started playing in the regular games with above average scores.

"Roscoe loved to read and followed all world events. Anne and I would have him for dinner 2 or 3 times a month and listen to his fascinating stories. Also, he loved to go to the movies so we often took him. The last movie we saw with him was “Mamma Mia”, but the most touching movie we saw fairly recently was “The Bucket List”. When the 3 of us got up to leave, Roscoe was weeping and said to Anne and myself, this movie made me think of how much I love you. You and John are my family.

"Lastly, about 3 weeks ago, I was playing in a poker tournament online about 2:30 in the morning when the phone rang. It was Roscoe. He said “I’m going to the hospital now and am going to die. I wanted to thank you and Anne for everything. I love you both.” The next morning Roscoe was back at Forest Oaks. We went to see him and he said the time was not quite right to die.

"Recently, Roscoe had some rough times with an occasionally high note. On Christmas Eve morning, we tried unsuccessfully to take him out for breakfast. which he was determined to do, even though he was not well. He got sick in the restaurant and we left early. But then a high note on Christmas Day was when he went to Janet Moses’s for the day. He was so happy, talking about the wonderful dinner and dessert. Roscoe had a sweet tooth and I would often buy him bags of candy that he’d hide in his room from his roommates. He had a keen sense of showing appreciation, either verbally or with some cherished thank you notes that we have saved.

"Roscoe had an unbelievable memory. One day he was nearly out of oxygen. The aide at Forest Oaks said she’d have to get the company’s phone number to order some. Roscoe said, “It's 1-800-XXX_XXXX. This was about a month ago.

"On January 20th, Inauguration Day, Roscoe told the nurse in his room, “Turn up the volume on the TV. I’m going to see the Inauguration and then I’m going to go”. He died during the 13th hour.

"Roscoe has made us all a better person for having known him. We will miss him and loved him dearly. God Bless him."