Alicia Dacus Stigler

Alicia was born in Portageville, Missouri, to Nevart Erskine Dacus and Dorthea Lucille Knight, both of whom preceded her in death. She was also preceded in death by her beloved husband of 55 years, Samuel James Stigler Jr., and by her sister, Carolyn Dacus Dorris.

She is survived by her daughter Sheryl Suzanne Stigler Martin and her husband Michael Scott Martin; her son Samuel James Stigler III.; her grandsons Micah Samuel Martin and Sumner James Martin, who is married to Emily Roberts Martin; and her cherished great-grandson, John Samuel Martin.

Alicia moved to Tupelo, Mississippi, in the eighth grade and graduated from Tupelo High School. She began her college education at Memphis State University, where she joined the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. Answering a calling to care for others, she chose to pursue nursing and transferred to the University of Tennessee School of Nursing in Memphis. She graduated in 1962 with honors, serving as Class President, and received her RN. She worked at Baptist Hospital in Memphis and married Samuel James Stigler Jr. that same summer. Alicia worked as a nurse until the birth of her first child, Suzanne, and later returned to nursing in 1983, working part-time at Greenwich Hospital until 1995.

From a young age, Alicia was deeply devoted to Jesus Christ. At a time when it was nearly unheard of, she dreamed of becoming either a foreign missionary or a preacher. She famously preached homilies to her pets and longed for a pulpit. While her ministry did not unfold in the traditional sense, it was expansive and deeply personal — marked by compassion for neighbors, care for the elderly, and attentiveness to those she believed were overlooked. She ultimately fulfilled her dream of foreign missions as an adult when she served as the nurse on a mission trip to Romania in the 1990s.

Her faith was the anchor of her life. Alicia was an active and devoted member of every church community she joined, including Harrisburg Baptist (Tupelo), Bellevue Baptist (Memphis), Greenwich Baptist, Carmel Baptist (Charlotte), Red Bank Baptist (Chattanooga), and finally Vestavia Hills Baptist Church in Birmingham. She sang alto in the choir, participated in a special trio in Greenwich, taught seventh-grade girls Sunday School, and devoted herself to ministry among the elderly. Alongside her husband, she was a faithful tither and generous supporter of charitable causes. Even in her final years, writing her “charity checks” remained one of her greatest joys.

Alicia had a love for older homes, antiques, and restoration. She lovingly restored a 100-year-old home in Connecticut and later built a log home in Independence, Virginia, fully furnished with primitive antiques. Whether in Greenwich, Charlotte, Chattanooga, or the home she and her husband built in Birmingham, Alicia created spaces that were warm, inviting, and beautiful, reflecting her gift for hospitality and her desire to share life with others.

A Celebration of the Life of Alicia Dacus Stigler will be held on Saturday, March 7, at 1:00 p.m., with visitation to follow, at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church, 1600 Vestavia Drive, Vestavia Hills, Alabama 35216.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to consider a gift in Alicia’s memory to Samaritan’s Purse using this link https://www.samaritanspurse.org/memorial-page/alicia-dacus-stigler-birmingham-al/ or to her alma mater, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center https://utfi.org/giving/memorials/.