Alice Loy Lange

Alice Loy Lange, lovingly known to family and friends as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” was at last able to peacefully pass away in her Granite Gate Senior Living Community home on Thursday, October 22, 2015 after a hard fought battle during the last weeks of her life. She was born on February 7, 1923 in Champaign, Illinois to Ezra B. and Cora Loy. Alice and her deceased husband “Coach” David “Les” Lange had lived in Prescott since 1948. Coach passed away in February of 2010.

Alice was the youngest of twelve children and grew up on a vast farm in Mahomet, Illinois. She attended Mahomet High School, where she was involved in many activities such as cheer, singing, acting and playing the piano. It was there during her sophomore year that she first met her beloved Les, a new teacher at the school. After graduation, they were able to begin making wedding plans. They were married on New Year’s Day 1941, and were then off to the Army Air Corp.

After a move to Lake Forest, Illinois for a coaching job, Alice had their first child, David, in February of 1942. Their next coaching opportunity would take them to Gridley, Illinois where their second child, Suzanne, was born in October of 1945. In 1948, the family packed up and headed west for a move to Prescott, AZ, a little town they had never previously heard of, but which became dear to their hearts and their permanent home for 68 years. Their third son, Daniel, was born there in March of 1955.

When Alice was 39 years old, she was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This was a very significant decision for her and her family and she found much peace, comfort and happiness in her chosen faith.

Alice was very active in the Prescott community and helped her husband sell real estate with their Double L Realty business, as well as working at the Rohrer-Bloom drug store and the County Board of Supervisors. But Alice’s true passion was in the performing arts. There was not a time in her life when she couldn’t be found singing, acting, playing the piano, writing or directing.

She spent many years as a volunteer director for over 20 Prescott High School musicals such as “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Oklahoma,” “The Pajama Game,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” and also directed several plays for her church. She taught and directed drama and speech for many years, while also taking performing arts and writing courses at Yavapai Community College to further her own education. She would often coach drama and singing lessons to the youth in the community. She affectionately called these youngsters her “Living Room Kids,” since she would mentor them in her home. She was awarded an honorary lifetime membership in the Arizona P.T.A. for her work with young people, as well as having a room in Prescott High School’s Fine Arts Center dedicated in her name. She also performed in local plays, the last of which was “On Golden Pond” in 1983.

For many years Alice wrote a column for the Prescott Daily Courier and the Mahomet Citizen in Illinois and some of her articles and her personal poetry were published in national magazines such as “The Reader’s Digest” and “Reminisce.” After moving to Granite Gate Senior Center in her later years, she also wrote for their newsletter and had many poems published.

Alice loved to entertain in any capacity, including doing readings of others’ work, her own poetry, or columns and playing the piano to entertain. At the age of 82, she started a singing and performing group at Granite Gate, “The Singsters,” directing, performing with, and producing their shows.

Alice was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and a wonderful friend to everyone she knew. Her attitude toward life was, “I love people and love to help in any way in which I am needed.” She dedicated her life to helping others shine. All who knew Alice benefited from her amazing talents and her zest for life.

Alice is survived by her sons Dave of Prescott, AZ and Dan (Ann) of Colorado Springs, CO; twenty-one grandchildren and forty-eight great-grandchildren.

Alice’s family would like to thank Legacy Home Care, the Good Samaritan Society and Granite Gate Senior Center for their loving care of Alice during her last days.