Alford, Carrie Weiland (Mrs. J.M.)
9/30/1962
MRS. J. M. ALFORD
January 17, 1876-September 30, 1962
Mrs. Carrie Weiland Alford was born January 17, 1876 in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, and died September 30, 1962 in Shreveport, Louisiana, making her stay on earth 86 years, 8 months and 13 days. She was married to the Rev. J. M. Alford in September 1900 and so spent 62 years as the wife of a Methodist preacher. She is survived by her husband and six children: one son Edgar E. Alford, and five daughters, Mrs. Morris Adger (Carrie Mae), Mrs. A. R. Foye (Mary), Mrs. Drew Wilson (Gladys), Mrs. L. M. McClellan (Bertha), and Mrs. A. C. Masingill (Jo).
This simple catalogue of dates and names is but the barest outline of a great life. To etch in all the details would be a massive volume. For 47 years she served with her husband in the active ranks of the ministry wherever the church appointed them, and when age forced her husband to take the superannuate relation in 1942 they continued to serve as superannuate supply for several more years. Only the wisdom of God and the scales of eternity can compute the composite total of good accomplished by these two noble people in their service to God through the church.
Mrs. Alford was a true helpmate, a wonderful mother, a devout Christian and a tireless soldier of the Cross. I did not know her well until the last three years of her life, but I was blessed indeed during this time by the radiance of her love for the Church, by her never failing good humor and by the graciousness of her personality.
Great as were her labors for the Master, as a preacher’s wife in the Church, probably her greatest laurels were won in the field of home-maker and mother. One son, five daughters rise up to call her blessed. Each one of them is a living monument to her loving care and consecrated zeal as a mother.
From the days of Lemuel, the king, who wrote so beautifully about a virtuous woman in Proverbs 31, until our own day, writers of poetry and prose, makers of music, artists of every sort have sought to find adequate expression for our thoughts about a good woman. Such a woman was Mrs. Carrie Weiland Alford, and I am neither poet nor artist, yet all who knew her well are confident that such beauty of character cannot have ceased but will shine even more brightly in the celestial setting of God’s eternal city, forever and ever.
Source: Journal Louisiana Conference, 1963; p. 270 By James T. Harris
