By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Past secretary Anjean Parker and immediate past president Kaye Alexander were honored Thursday evening as dual recipients of the 2004-2005 Antlerette of the Year at Dowagiac Elks Lodge 889.
Parker, an Antlerette since 1996, was accompanied by her daughters, Karen Younger and Deanna Trout, both of Dowagiac. She also has a son, William, of Dowagiac.
Born in Cicero, Ill., on Dec. 1, 1937, she attended Timothy Christian School in Chicago, where she worked for Sunbeam Corp.
After the arrival of her children, she became a housewife.
After Parker was widowed, she became secretary of First United Methodist Church.
Parker is past president of The Junior Arts Club of Dowagiac and the United Methodist Women, secretary of Esther Circle at the church and a member of the pastor-parish relations committee.
She is a member of the Rosebud Chapter of the Red Hats, Dowagiac Book Club and Bridge-a-Rama.
One of Parker's passions is playing cards - bridge in particular, but "I do hear that she is mopping them up at the Cass County Medical Care Facility with her poker-playing abilities," Wegner said.
Linda Alexander made the presentation for Kaye, whose husband of 12 years, City Councilman Jack Alexander, accepted her award. She passed away June 7.
Alexander was born in Dowagiac and graduated with the Class of 1959.
She was the mother of two children, Jill Hunsberger and Gregory Aldrich, and had five grandchildren. She lived in and around Dowagiac all of her life with the exception of a few years in California.
Kaye enjoyed walking, dancing, collected Boyd bears and spending time with her husband, children and grandchildren. She had been the receptionist at Lyons Industries.
The Antlerettes are sending her name to the Elks National Foundation so it will be inscribed on a name plate of the big plaque at the lodge.