Our beloved Alice Dale Caldwell was born on April 6, 1938, in Barnabus, WV (Logan County) to the late Olyph William Hileman and Georgia Helen Ward Hileman. She passed away peacefully on April 16, 2026, just ten days after her 88th birthday. Her passing occurred in the comfort of her daughter's and son in law's home in Virginia Beach, marking the end of a courageous battle with cancer.
Alice was the third of five children, growing up in a coal camp in Barnabus. Early on she learned the value of a dollar by taking on various jobs cleaning, cooking, doing laundry and scrubbing porches for women in the community. She spent her hard-earned money to go to the movies every Sunday in Omar with her brother, walking along the train tracks to get there. That money was also later used to buy her wedding dress after catching the eye of the handsome math teacher in town 9 years her senior.
After graduating from Logan High School and attending Wright State University in Dayton OH, on February 7, 1958, she and her beloved John Bogle Caldwell, were the first couple to be married in the newly constructed Omar Methodist Church, built by John's father, Joe Caldwell. Their union was blessed with five children. From Barnabus, WV, to Fork Union VA, where John taught school, they eventually settled in Xenia OH. John's brother Mark and his wife Nadine, along with their six children also settled there, making quite a clan of Caldwell children running the town. There was a time when she got a phone call from the school nurse asking her to pick up her sick child. She humorously responded, "Well that one is not mine, but I will come get him." In addition to raising her five children Alice held positions at Xenia public schools in food services and was a short order cook and deli manager at Fulmer's, but, spent most of her working years as her husband's secretary for his realty company in Xenia. In her later years she adored the time she spent volunteering at the Spring Valley Senior Center where she won an award for Volunteer of the Year.
She is preceded in death by her husband, John, and son, David Britt Caldwell, and brothers Gene Hileman, Doug Hileman and Leroy Hileman.
Alice is survived by her children: W T Caldwell and his wife Teresa of Xenia OH; John K Caldwell and his partner Chris Young of Lexington VA; Scott Caldwell and his wife Martha of Hatteras NC; and Alicia Herbert and her husband Michael of VA Beach. She is also survived by her youngest sister, Patty Ellis, along with her husband Bill of Manasses VA and many other nieces and nephews.
Her legacy lives on in her nine grandchildren: Christine Stahl and her husband Michael; Alison McCormick and her husband Tyler; AJ Herbert and his wife Lindsay; Tyler Caldwell; Alese Socha and her husband Paul; Ethan Caldwell; Myra Hatchell and her husband Dylan; Ashley Caldwell and her fiancé Hunter Pearce; and Claudia Caldwell. Last, but certainly not least, are her 6 six great-grandchildren whom she adored—Maggie Stahl, Julia Stahl, Lincoln McCormick, Lily Socha, Jackson McCormick, and Rhett Socha.
A visitation will be held at Rosewood-Kellum Funeral Home on Friday, April 24, 2026, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm with a service following on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at 10:00 am.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to a cancer research foundation of your choice, in hopes of bringing solace and healing to others facing similar battles.
