Portrait of Betty Alexander. IMB Photo

Betty Alexander, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Thailand, died Oct. 30, 2024. She was 94.  

Betty was born Nov. 26, 1929, in Hazel Valley, Arkansas, to the late Richard Nickell and Alpha Nickell. She graduated from Fayetteville (Arkansas) High School and attended Ozark (Arkansas) Bible Institute and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, California. 

She came to faith in Christ her 10th-grade year during a series of meetings conducted by an interdenominational preacher in the two-room schoolhouse in her small, rural community. She determined to follow Him no matter what her friends decided to do. While seeking missionary appointment she recalled that while attending her last two years of high school, “… I heard different missionaries speak at camps and in the churches and as a result of the needs being presented and God’s Spirit speaking to me, I surrendered my life to serve God in any way He wanted, all the time feeling that perhaps He wanted me to serve in foreign mission service.” 

After college, she met Max Alexander, and they were married in the fall of 1952. Following a short term of military duty for Max, they moved to California and attended seminary preparing to seek missionary appointment with the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board). While seeking appointment she wrote, “God has blessed me in all my efforts for Him and I plan to serve Him wherever He may lead.” 

In 1961, the International Mission Board appointed Max and Betty missionaries to Thailand. She was a teacher and mentor to many, taught kindergarten and English as a second language, ministered to Cambodian refugees, worked alongside Max planting churches and extended hospitality to visitors from around the world.  

Betty was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, Max Alexander.  

She is survived by her three daughters, Pam Alexander of Jonesboro, Arkansas; Donna K. Alexander of Great Falls, Virginia; Doris Alexander Griffin (Mike) of McDonough, Georgia; and two grandsons.   

A memorial service was held Nov. 8, 2024, at Emerson Funeral Home in Jonesboro, Arkansas, with burial in Jonesboro Memorial Park Cemetery.  

Read an obituary here.