January 13, 2023
Alex, Emily
Emily Louise Alex, 75, of Norwood, MA passed away peacefully on January 9, 2023, after a long battle with chronic lung and cardiac disease.
Born in Boston, Emily demonstrated from her earliest years a passion for dance, tapping away on city manhole covers as a toddler and entertaining patrons at the Lithuanian club her parents attended. Upon her family’s move “out to the country” in Bridgewater, she developed what would become a lifelong love of animals, tending first to chickens and horses and later a wide variety of domestic animals (including a blind kitten she found wandering the streets after a storm).
A natural inclination to put others before herself led her to become a trusted friend and confidante to many. From the patrons of Buddy’s Coffee Shop she met while waitressing during high school, to the students and faculty she worked with at Bridgewater State College, to the nurses and health care workers who helped her as she battled illness later in life: all were drawn to her warm smile, quick-witted humor, and genuine empathy. Her extraordinarily giving nature meant that, if you were in her presence, she would doubtless find something of hers to share with you.
To her husband, who courted her on many a dance floor, and daughters, whom she raised in the city of Brockton, she was all this and more: a phenomenal cook, preparing from-scratch dinners every night (her spanakopita was legendary); an inspiration to pursue less-trodden paths for girls at the time (like taking up drums and brass instruments in the school band); and a fun-loving soul who relished Stephen King movies, game nights of Parcheesi and rummy, and reality court shows from Judge Wapner to Judge Judy. She cherished the time she spent with her family and visibly lit up with pride and love when talking about them with others.
Emily’s kind and caring nature touched many lives; among her family, she leaves behind daughters Katherine (Katie) Alex Stevens and her husband Eric of Norwood and Eugenia (Jennie) Wilkinson and her husband Steve of Norwood; grandchildren Theodore and Cordelia Wilkinson and Xander and Zephyr Stevens; and granddogs Grover, Penelope, and Rosie. She is also survived by sister Evelyn Kirbach and her husband Dennis of Florida. She was predeceased by her husband of 45 years, Vassilios “Bill” Alex, and by brother Karl Wortwick of Indiana. Private services were held on January 12, 2023, at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Emily’s memory to the American Lung Association at lung.org or to the Disabled American Veterans at dav.org.