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Biography For Judson Alexander

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Author:
Bill Hart

Background:

The son of Walter & Sarah R.(Strobridge) Alexander, one of Wausau’s first pioneering lumbermen, Judd Alexander was born in Wausau on March 3, 1877.  He graduated from the Wausau High School and attended and graduated from Shattuck Military Academy at Faribault, Minnesota in 1900.  He then joined his brothers Walter Jr. and Ben in their father’s business. 

Accomplishments:

Judd and his brothers continued in these business ventures while simultaneously pursuing new opportunities.  Judd was chairman of the board of directors of the Marathon Electric Manufacturing Corporation, president of the Walter Alexander Company, the Northwestern Dyeing and Cleaning Works, the Pioneer Ranch Company of Lewiston, Montana, and served as a director of the Wisconsin Valley Trust Company.  He was also a director of the Employers Mutual Liability Insurance Company, the Employers Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the Hall Garage Corporation, the Marathon Battery Company, the Master Package Corporation, The Wausau Theaters Company, The Western Exploration Company, Ltd. of Silverton, BC, Canada, and the Marathon Corporation of Rothschild.

Mr. Alexander was very much involved with the Wausau Chamber of Commerce, was a member of the board of Wausau Memorial Hospital, and was chairman of the budget committee of the Wausau Community Chest from 1931 until his death.  He served on the board of trustees of the First Methodist Church and was president of the Wausau park board. Aditionally, he was the oldest active member of the city’s planning commission.  He was a member of the Wausau Lodge #130, F&AM, St. Omer Commandery Number 19, Knights Templar and the Elks Lodge.  He was a member of the Wausau Club, the Wausau Country Club, the Plum Lake Golf Club and other groups. 

 

Mr. Alexander, along with his brother Ben, helped establish the Alexander Airport, contributing much of the land for the project, which later became the Alexander Municipal Airport when it was given to the city of Wausau.

Judd Alexander was married in Pasadena, CA on February 10, 1919 to Anne MacKay of Galesburg, Illinois.  They did not have any children.  During WWI Mr. Alexander was active in various Liberty Loan drives and in 1917 was one of the charter members of Company C, Home Guards, which was later a unit in Wisconsin State Guards, Tenth Infantry.  He was mustered out with the rank of second lieutenant in 1919. 

 

The Alexander family had a reputation for being one of the most knowledgeable and productive Aberdeen-Angus cattle breeders, and Judd soon learned this business as well.  Later, they switched to Guernsey cattle and raised them on the Alexander farm, known as Bonnie Doon Farms on Highway 51, just north of Wausau.

 

Mr. Alexander suffered a massive heart attack and died on August 18, 1948.  He is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Wausau, WI. 

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Other Information

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Nickname: Judd

Date of Birth: 3/3/1877

Place of Birth: Wis

Date of Death: 8/18/1948

Place of Burial: Pine Grove Cemetery Wausau, WI

Race: W

Father's Birthplace: Scotland

Mother's Birthplace: Pennsylvania

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