Alexander, Phyllis

1939 - 2023  (83 years)

• Name	Alexander, Phyllis  [1, 2, 3]
  Born	22 Nov 1939	Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas, USA   [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  Gender	Female
  Group	Bloodline
  Residence	1 Apr 1940	Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas, USA   [1]
  	Age: 3/12; Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head of House: Daughter
  Died	19 Apr 2023	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA   [3]
  Person ID	I1955	Our Family | Weiss Lang Family Branch, Descendants of Lob Pfeifer
  Last Modified	26 Apr 2026

  
  

  Father	Alexander, Louis Julian,   b. 11 Oct 1901, Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas, USA ,   d. 12 Feb 1983  (Age 81 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Loeb, Natalie,   b. 12 Sep 1911, Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas, USA ,   d. 16 Feb 1968, Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas, USA  (Age 56 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Married	29 Jan 1934	Pulaski County, Arkansas, USA   [6, 7, 8]
  Family ID	F5855	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Kaplan, Edward M.
  Children	1. Kaplan, Alexander   2. Kaplan, Natalie
  Last Modified	26 Apr 2026
  Family ID	F217	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 22 Nov 1939 - Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas, USA Residence - Age: 3/12; Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head of House: Daughter - 1 Apr 1940 - Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas, USA Died - 19 Apr 2023 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  KaplanPhyllisAlexanderKaplan, 83, passed away on April 19th in Salt Lake City, Utah. After a short hospital stay following a heart attack, she died peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by her husband, children, and grandchildren. After 50 years in Memphis, Tennessee, she and her husband moved to Salt Lake City in 2020 to live with her daughter's family. Born on November 22, 1939, to L. Julian Alexander and Natalie Loeb Alexander in Little Rock, Arkansas, Phyllis was a life-long educator, avid tennis player, opera aficionado, and devoted reader of a wide variety of literature. Those who knew her experienced her quick wit, irreverent sense of humor, and stories of growing up in Little Rock, as well as how she cherished being able to gather with friends and family.Phyllis graduated from Little Rock Central High School in 1957, and from Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University in 1961. At both, she was a varsity cheerleader, and at Newcomb was the president of the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority. Later, she earned a Master's Degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. After teaching English at high schools in Dallas, Texas and New York state, she returned to Little Rock in 1968 when her mother fell ill. Not long after her mother's death in February of that year, she was invited to Memphis by her college roommate, Cecile Prager, for Passover. Prager and a friend, Kirk Lewis, set up Phyllis on a blind date with Edward M. Kaplan, a young Memphis lawyer. Just a few months later, Phyllis and Eddie had a small wedding ceremony in her father's living room in Little Rock. They settled in Memphis and started a family, with son Alex arriving in 1970 and daughter Natalie in 1973. Phyllis was a firm believer in supporting one's passions whenever possible, either with time or money. She loved classical music, contributing to Opera Memphis and serving as president of Concerts International. She cared deeply about social justice through improving the lives of women, contributing to Planned Parenthood and serving as co-president of the Memphis chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women. After leaving teaching when she had children, she chose to return to the profession when they were old enough to go to school, teaching English as a second language at the Memphis Hebrew Academy to Jewish children who had fled the Soviet Union. Ultimately, she did the same at the University of Memphis for decades' worth of students from all over the world.At the time of her passing, she was a member of three synagogues-B'nai Israel of Little Rock, Temple Israel of Memphis, and Har Shalom of Park City.She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Eddie; their daughter Natalie and son-in-law Toby Schmidt of Salt Lake City, Utah; their son Alex and daughter-in-law Lisa of Boston, Massachusetts; and their grand-daughters Eva Schmidt and Nora Kaplan. She was very recently pre-deceased by her beloved older sister, Natalie Greenberg, and survived by brother-in-law S.L. Greenberg, of Beaumont, TX, as well as S.L. & Natalie's children and grandchildren.

  
  

• Sources

  [S195] 1940 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.;), Year: 1940; Census Place: Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas; Roll: T627_168; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 60-62. M-T0627-00168-00009.jpg [S230] 1940 US Census. [S15] Obituary, for Phyllis. [S88] Pfeifer Family tree from Butler Center. [S89] Pfeifer Family Tree from Butler Center. [S752] Arkansas Marriages. [S2148] Arkansas Marriage Index, 1933-1939, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc;). Arkansas Marriage Index, 1933-1939 [S2307] Arkansas Marriages.