Stephen Alexander, 60, of Lake Forest, a longtime advertising executive for Time magazine, died of complications from leukemia treatment Monday, March 18, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago. Mr. Alexander was born in Port Washington, N.Y., and earned a bachelor’s degree in history from St. Louis University, where he met Marian Burda. They got married shortly after he graduated in 1962. He joined the Marines and, during a three-year stint in North Carolina, rose to the rank of captain. When he returned to civilian life in 1965, Mr. Alexander moved to New York, where his father offered him a job at Time. His father, Roy, put him to work as a writer for the company newsletter. After watching him struggle with his first story–a feature on a new bike rack for Time employees–his father promptly fired him. “It was just his sense that my dad couldn’t write as well as he could sell,” said Mr. Alexander’s son Kevin. Roy Alexander soon rehired his son and put him in advertising. He transferred to sales departments at other Time Inc. publications, including Money and People. In 1976, Mr. Alexander moved to Chicago to be closer to his wife’s family and was People’s Midwest sales manager until 1982. He returned to Time magazine where he rose to the post of national sales manager, a job he held until 1987. He worked as a sales executive for several Chicago magazines until leukemia forced him to retire last year. “He was born to be an ad man,” his wife said. In addition to his wife and his son, survivors include six other sons, Stephen Jr., Bryan, David, Matthew, Reagan and Christopher; a daughter, Jennifer Via; two brothers, Roy and Charles; and four sisters, Harriet Garzero, Hollis Nichols, Patricia LaMothe and Rosemary. Services were held Saturday.
