Alex Cecil Rachal

Alex Cecil Rachal passed away peacefully surrounded by his youngest child and her family Sunday, September 6, 2026, at 96 years old. He is survived by three children, his son Chris Rachal of Greensboro, NC; daughter Kay Myatt and her husband Dave Myatt of Carrolton, GA; daughter Suzy Jones and her husband Paul Jones. He is also survived by five grandchildren, Cody and Casey Jones, Jeff and Alex Myatt and Brian Rachal and 3 great grandchildren, Malaya Myatt, Maddux Myatt and Lilly Jean Jones.

Alex was born on August 31, 1930, in Bossier City Louisiana during the depression. His family moved to Jonesboro, Louisiana as he approached high school age. It was in Jonesboro where he met his future wife, Francis Elizabeth Hood (Betty) while they both worked in a local theater in August of 1950. They were married on April 21, 1951 and stayed married for 71 years and 11 months until Betty passed away in LaGrange, Georgia on March 26, 2023.

Alex served in the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1953. He moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1953 and lived there until 1958 when he and Betty then moved to Decatur, Georgia. They lived in Decatur until the early 80s when they moved to Lake Jackson Georgia in the Turtle Cove community.

Alex worked for Complete Auto Transit from 1951 to 1992 in South Atlanta. He was branch manager for the Lakewood and the Doraville locations of Complete Auto Transit for several years prior to retirement in 1992.

Alex and Betty adopted and raised three children; Chris in 1960, Kay in 1962 and Suzy in 1965. They enjoyed the outdoors throughout their many years together; taking the children camping, fishing and boating (waterskiing) at Lake Lanier in the 1960s and 1970s and at Lake Jackson in the 70s and 80s. And Alex enjoyed fishing with friends in Port Saint Joe, FL where they lived from 2000 to 2020 before moving to LaGrange, Georgia in 2020.

Family meant everything to him; he loved his wife, children, grandchildren and great children beyond words. Alex also was a lover of animals and truly loved his cats and dogs through the years, but was particularly fond of his dog, Tiki, he had when he passed away.

Alex was an avid baseball and football fan. He attended many high school football games for Southwest Dekalb and college games for Georgia Tech. And yes, he pulled for both Georgia and Georgia Tech…it is possible to do that, believe it or not.

His main sports passion, however, was baseball. He grew up knowing all the players batting averages in Major League Baseball as a teen and rooted for the Detroit Tigers.

Upon moving to Atlanta in adulthood, Alex attended countless Atlanta Crackers games at Ponce De Leon Park. When the Atlanta Braves arrived at the city from Milwaukee, he was at the second game they played in Atlanta Stadium. In the 1951 he saw Jackie Robinson play for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbot’s Field in Brooklyn; he was in attendance for the historic pitching matchup between Sandy Koufax and Denny LaMaster on August 9, 1966, at Atlanta stadium with the Braves winning 2-1.

He also attended the first MLB playoff game ever held in Atlanta in 1969 as well at the first World Series game ever played in Atlanta in 1991. And through the years if there was an Atlanta Braves game on TV he was usually watching it. He passed his love of baseball on to his children…well, except Suzy, ha!

Alex was beloved by all who met him. A kind and gentle man who had a wonderful sense of humor and was a great storyteller. He made the world a better place with his presence. His grandchildren called him Pops; his family sometimes would call him Saint Alex. He lived a long and good live. He indeed knocked it out of the park. Well done, Alex, well done. You are so loved and so very missed.

A Memorial Service will take place on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Mountville Methodist Church, 4563 Greenville Rd, LaGrange, GA 30241.