Gertrude (Trudy) Foraker Alexander

Trudy was born in New Castle, Delaware to Charles Henry Foraker and Gertrude Haines Foraker on September 22, 1942. She attended the University of Delaware and graduated with a B.S. degree in Nutrition. She received a Master’s degree in Nutrition from the University of Michigan and moved to New York to work at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan, and later as Chief Dietitian at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. While living on the Upper East Side, she met her husband, Jim Alexander, whom she married on August 27, 1970. They moved to Atlanta, where Trudy worked as Chief Dietitian and Director of Food Services in Atlanta hospitals, including Grady Memorial Hospital, West Paces Ferry Hospital, and Brawner Psychiatric Hospital, and then in private practice for many years.

Trudy was a patriot and very involved in the Atlanta Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, for which she served as Registrar, Regent, and in other committee leadership roles. Notably, as DAR Chapter Regent, Trudy became interested in the Shepherd Center SHARE Military Initiative, a program designed to give veterans with brain injuries and PTSD extensive rehabilitation. After selecting that organization to receive a monetary donation, she learned about the opportunity to deliver home-cooked meals to the groups of veterans being treated at Shepherd. The first meal was served in 2013. Under her direction, the program grew to a meal every month, which she oversaw and managed personally.

Trudy was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, and was very involved in the lives of her three grandchildren. She was famous for her talents in the kitchen, hosting dinner parties and family holiday celebrations, and baking pies, breads, and cookies from scratch.

Trudy was preceded in death by her mother, Gertrude Haines Foraker; and her father, Charles Henry Foraker.

Trudy is survived by her husband, Jim Alexander; her daughter, Deirdre Alexander McClure; her son-in-law, Morgan John McClure; her brother, Charles Henry Foraker Jr.; her sister, Deborah Foraker Pullan; and her grandchildren, Darcy, Margaret, and Andrew McClure.

Visitation will be from 5:00 to 8:00pm on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at H.M. Patterson & Son - Oglethorpe Hill, 4550 Peachtree Rd, Atlanta 30319.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00am on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, at the Cathedral of Christ the King, 2699 Peachtree Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30305. A committal service will follow at 2:00pm at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, Georgia.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to the Shepherd Center, Attn: Foundation – SHARE Program, 2020 Peachtree Rd. NW, Atlanta, GA 30309, “In Memory of Trudy Alexander,” or online at: https://donate.shepherd.org/give/599045/#!/donation/checkout. Atlanta Chapter DAR members are encouraged to contribute to the Chapter’s SHARE Meals Fund in her memory.

The family of Trudy Alexander wishes to extend our sincere thanks for their wonderful care to the Grady Memorial Hospital Trauma ICU doctors, nurses and staff.