Alexander Mitchell
1943-03-03 2007-03-05Alexander ‘Mitch’ Bill Mitchell
Alexander Bill Mitchell, 64, of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, passed away on Monday, March 5, 2007, after a courageous battle with lung cancer. Alex was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, on March 3, 1943, the son of Alexander Bruce and Rita Mae (Thorson) Mitchell. He graduated from South Shore High School in Chicago, Illinois, in 1961.
On July 10, 1968, Alex, who at the time was stationed with the U.S. Army in Phu Bai, Vietnam, requested an R&R in Hawaii where he married Patricia Ann Tjensvold from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. They were joined in holy matrimony by Chaplain Wesley V. Gehry at the Fort Shafter Army Chapel in Honolulu.
Upon completing his military service and returning to the states, Alex completed his Bachelor of Science in Education degree in History and Mathematics at UW-Whitewater in 1972. The job market for teachers at that time was not good, so he began working as a sales representative and then a Division Supervisor for International Circulation Distributors, a division of the Hearst Corporation.
Trained to be a teacher, Alex longed to work with students in the classroom. In 1988, he left his job and went back to UW-Whitewater to become re-certified as a teacher and to complete majors in Mathematics and in Broadfield Social Studies. During that time, he also did substitute teaching for several of the local school districts. The job market in these areas was still very tight, so he decided to return to the publishing business.
He joined the Curtis Circulation Company in 1991 as District Sales Manager based in New Berlin, Wisconsin. When the New Berlin office closed, he became Distribution Manager at Southern Wisconsin News in Edgerton, Wisconsin. He retired from there in March of 2005 but still worked at Southern on a part-time basis. He was diagnosed with lung cancer at the beginning of August in 2006.
Surviving are his wife, Pat, his father-and mother-in-law, Ray and Jeanne Tjensvold; sisters-in-law Linda Mitchell and Cindy Tjensvold; brothers-in-law Steve and Bob Tjensvold; nephews David and Mark Mitchell and David Tjensvold; and Mark’s children, Magdalyn, Ian, and Anna Mitchell. Alex was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, George Mitchell.
Friends may call on Friday, March 9, from 10 a.m. to noon at Nitardy Funeral Home in Fort Atkinson. A private funeral service will be held in the Chapel at Pine Lawn Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Alex will be laid to rest.
A special thank you is extended to all who gave Mitch and his wife their love, support, and friendship when they most needed it. Anyone planning an expression of sympathy may wish to consider memorials to Countryside Home in Jefferson, Wisconsin.
I knew Alex all through high school and even worked a part time job with for a short while after we graduated from high school. He truely was a great guy and friend. I just wished he never smoked and maybe he would still be alive today but only God would know that for sure. I am glad he found happiness in life and meet the girl of his dreams and lived happy ever after. Those of us who knew him will miss him.
tribute by Terrence "Terry" Murphy