Gene Earl Alderson

Gene Earl Alderson, age 73, died Saturday, May 5, 2012. A devoted husband, a loving father, grandfather and a faithful man of God, he was loved and respected by many and our sadness is only surpassed by our joy in knowing he is with his Heavenly Father.

Services were held Wednesday, May 9th, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. in First Baptist Church, Clarendon. Burial will be in Citizens Cemetery under the direction of Robertson Funeral Directors.

Gene was born in Adair Hospital in Clarendon, Texas on January 11, 1939.

The son of Earl and Margarette Christal Alderson, he attended Clarendon schools and graduated from Clarendon College. He completed his education at Southern Methodist University in 1961 with a degree in Marketing. He and Tiny Drake were married June 3, 1961, in Midland, Texas, and he joined his parents in the operation of Alderson Chevrolet.

In 1965, he attended the Chevrolet School of Merchandising and Management in Detroit, Michigan. Earl Alderson passed away shortly after Gene’s return to Clarendon, and for a time, Gene was the youngest Chevrolet Dealer in the United States. He combined both his business and love of cars as a Chevrolet Dealer for over 25 years. After closing the dealership, Gene obtained a Long Term Care Facility Administrator’s license. He served in this field for over fourteen years until retiring in 2009 to live the dream of traveling with Tiny in their motor home across the United States. They somehow managed to often include visits to Dripping Springs, Texas, to check on the grandkids he loved so much. Dripping Springs became their home base.

During the fifty plus years Gene lived in Clarendon, he served the community in many capacities. He was a past president of the Clarendon Lions Club and Clarendon Country Club. He served as a Director of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Clarendon CISD School Board. All of the Alderson family were faithful members of First Baptist Church where Gene served as Deacon Chairman, Sunday School Superintendent and Sunday School Teacher. When the existing church building was built in 1972, Gene served as Chairman of the Building Finance Committee. At his death, he was a member of First Baptist Church, Clarendon, Texas.

When his career as a nursing home administrator took him to Brownsville, Texas, in 2002, Gene became involved in Gideon’s International and as president of the Brownsville Camp, led a Bible Blitz distributing Bibles to the Cameron County Area. During the seven and a half years they lived in Brownsville, he and Tiny were active in First Baptist Church where Gene served as a Deacon, Sunday School Teacher and on the Finance Committee. He was also active in the Brownsville Downtown Lions Club.

Gene is survived by his wife, Tiny; his daughter and son-in-law, Karen and Mike Spees of Lubbock, Texas, his son and daughter-in-law, Lynn and Amy Alderson of Dripping Springs, Texas, and the three joys of his later years, his grandchildren, Caitlyn, Drake and Amanda Alderson.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to Gideon’s International or Clarendon Citizens Cemetery Association.