Angela L. Townsend

Akisha Townsend Eaton of Bowling Green and Jacinda Townsend of Hope, Rhode Island, said goodbye to their mother of many decades on March 26, 2025. Teacher, activist, speaker, writer, editorialist, poetess, writing workshop consultant, Angela Townsend, shed her mortal coils in quiet rest at approximately 3PM at Hospice of Southern Kentucky in Bowling Green. Born to the late Thedders Carr Alexander (1920-2010) and Lockwood Lewis Alexander (1918-1965) in the famed “Jonesville,” on the outer periphery of Bowling Green, Kentucky, Angela spent her childhood and early school years in that area. During her advanced school years, she graduated from High Street High School as class valedictorian, student council president, senior class vice president, and runner-up to Miss Homecoming, among many other titles and accomplishments. She was twice married to Wendell Townsend, who survives; they were first wed on Jul 18, 1970. She was predeceased by her parents and brothers, Donald Wayne Alexander (1944-1998) and Darryl Wayne Alexander (1951-2013). Her church preference as a youngster was Mount Zion Baptist Church under the late Moderator, the Reverend Jessie Howard Taylor. She participated regularly in Sunday school activities, church delegations, and as a record-setting attendee at the Whippoorwill Annual Summer Camp Programs. Later in life, she joined Eleventh Street Baptist Church under the pastorship of Moderator, the Reverend Doctor Carl E. Whitfield. In this setting, she joined the cadre of “Willing Workers” and Nurses Guild. She regularly attended the New Bethel Baptist Church Sunday Evening Radio Broadcast program. Also, Angela could be seen visiting many other churches in and around the City of Bowling Green, wherever her students were in attendance. Angela attended the University of Louisville, Western Kentucky University, Fisk University, Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the University of Kentucky, her alma mater. She received a bachelor's, master's, and Rank I certification with several endorsements from those universities. As Angela shared General Electric Company assignments with her husband and moved in and out of Bowling Green and around the country, she ran the gamut in educating students and designing programs from nursery school through college level. She taught English, advanced, remedial, college-level reading, business law, journalism, Bowling Green Junior High and High Schools, Princeton Junior High in Cincinnati, Lincoln School in Louisville, Bowling Green Business College, and Warren Central and Greenwood High Schools (where she served as Department Chair and Co-Chair). At the preschool levels, she taught at Kinder Kollege and helped to establish Kuddly Kare Day Care (a joint venture with her late mother Thedders Alexander). Angela loved to write and inspire others to write across all genres. She was a writing consultant and often led educator workshops for the Warren County school system, the State of Kentucky, and the Green River Educational Cooperative Consortium (GRECC). In addition, being quite moved at times by national and local issues, Angela’s letters and lengthy editorials often appeared in the Daily News. Angela was named a judge in many essay contests and application processes, including those associated with the Governor’s Scholars Program (in which she also served on the statewide academic selection committee for many years). She founded, sponsored, and supervised many community youth organizations, including Students United to Excel (SUTE), Bowling Green Youth Achievement, Sponsor a Youth (SAY), and Miss Bronze Bowling Green. She co-sponsored a minority debutante group with the late Mrs. Margaree Douglass and the late Mrs. Grace Taylor. In the schools where she taught, she sponsored black and African-American history clubs and was a charter sponsor of the National Honor Society and Quill and Scroll. Angela loved working with and mentoring her students and other young people around the state to help them gain entrance into colleges, win scholarships in writing and speaking contests, and become young published authors. She selected and supervised Daily News student correspondents and promoted many “winning awardees” over the years. She ensured that her students regularly participated in local, state, and national essay contests, including essay competitions for Law Day, an annual commemoration to celebrate the rule of law and cultivate a deeper understanding of the legal system. In her classroom, she often emphasized President Ford’s quote, “The beauty and strength of America is its diversity.” Angela’s fervor in working with youth spilled over into mentoring her own offspring, who gained academic titles such as National Merit Finalist and William Fulbright Fellow, and who earned degrees from Harvard, Stanford, Duke Law, and Georgetown Law, with additional studies at Oxford University (England). Among an exhaustive list of Angela’s awards, achievements, and memberships are– Governor Louie B. Nunn Kentucky Teacher Hall of Fame Inductee, Bowling Green Human Rights Commission Board Member, Women of Achievement Advisory Committee Member, NAACP Freedom Fighter Awardee, Kentucky Distinguished Educator, Kentucky Council of Teachers of English Advisory Board Member, and Kentucky Colonel. Longtime friend and colleague Judy Johnson recalled when Angela was named a Kentucky Distinguished Educator, charged with implementing the Kentucky Education Reform Act, among other responsibilities. She stated: Although in 1996, when the Kentucky Board of Education named Angela as a Distinguished Educator (which meant she was qualified to intervene in schools that were in decline), her students and colleagues of 30 years were well aware she was already a distinguished educator. Like other good teachers, she employed many successful strategies before they were mandated by the 1990 Education Reform Act. She wanted to create responsible, informed adults ready to take their places in the world and society. In 2022, in recognition of her lifetime of service in education, Angela received an honorary doctorate from Western Kentucky University. Specially-bonded survivors include remaining immediate family members whom she thoroughly enjoyed having conversations with at least twice a day no matter in the world where they were: daughters Jacinda Townsend of Hope, Rhode Island and Akisha (Jack) Townsend Eaton of Bowling Green, Kentucky (with whom she resided from 2019 to the final days before her passing), granddaughters Rhianna Gides of Great Falls, Montana and Fadzai Gides of Hope, Rhode Island; Niece Nicole (Nathaniel) Farmer of Aberdeen, Maryland; Donald Alexander II (Angela) of Chillicothe, Ohio, and sister-in-law Elnora Alexander, and a host of other family members and friends. A service to celebrate and commemorate her life will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, at Eleventh Street Baptist Church, with visitation beginning at 10 a.m. Services are entrusted to Burnam and Son Mortuary in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Burial will be at Fairview Cemetery. Read more at: https://bgdailynews.com/2025/04/04/angela-lewis-townsend-alexander/ Sincerely, -Your friends at Burnam and Son Mortuary

Angela L. Townsend

February 24, 1943 - March 26, 2025

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Angela L. Townsend

February 24, 1943 - March 26, 2025

365 Days of Grief Support

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