Alexander Moses Sloan – Obituary

Alexander Moses Sloan, 85, of Florence, Alabama, passed away quietly with his family and friends at his home on Dec. 24, 2014. The memorial service will be on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015, at First Christian Church at 2 p.m. Family will receive friends from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the church.

Alex Sloan was born on April 30, 1929, in McLeansboro, Illinois. After graduation from high school, he attended Southern Illinois University in Peoria, Illinois on a music scholarship. He was employed at Caterpillar Tractor Company and enrolled in their master machinist apprentice course. Aug. 1, 1950, he married Barbara J. Munsell, his lifelong sweetheart from the second grade. January of 1951, he joined the United States Air Force and was stationed in Selma, Alabama at Craig Air Force Base where he served for the next four years. At Craig his love of aviation began along with his love for golf. It was there their daughter, Shannon, was born. During his last two years at Craig Air Force Base, Alex would go in at 5 a.m. to work so he could get off at 1:30 p.m. and head to Selma Country Club to play golf. Upon discharge from the air force in January of 1955, Alex went to work at Selma Country Club for Bud Burns, brother of Chris Burns, longtime head professional at Florence Country Club. At Selma Country Club, he worked as an assistant professional and on the golf course.

In May of 1957, Alex was hire as professional at Florence Country Club. That fall he started the golf team at Florence State under the direction of Athletic Director Eddie Flowers. There was no money for a golf team expenses nor was Alex paid a salary as golf coach. Alex paid all tournament and travel expenses out of his own pocket. He remained coach at Florence State (now UNA) for the next 15 years. In October of 1960, he was hired as professional at Turtle Point Yacht and Country Club where he served for the next 33 years until retirement in December of 1993. During his golfing career he had many accomplishments. In 1981, he went to Seattle, Washington where he learned about the golfing machine, a teaching method, from Homer Kelly that he would teach throughout the remainder of his career. He won and received many awards including Dixie Section PGA Senior Championship and the Section Senior and Pro-Pro Championships. He was also named the first recipient of the Teacher of the Year award by the PGA. In 1981, he was recognized by Golf Magazine as one of the top one hundred teachers of the year and in 1993 was named Senior Teacher of the Year by the PGA. Alex was inducted into the Lauderdale County Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

Alex raised money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital by holding golf clinics. He always gave a portion of his earnings to St. Jude’s from lessons and DVDs that were sold around the world. Alex was responsible for many golf scholarships for his junior golfers as well as other who had taken lessons from him. His greatest honor was the golf endowment started at UNA for both he and Chris Burns in 2007.

His second love was aviation. He built a home built RV-3 and RV-6. He was very active in flying activities in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and the “Sun in Fun Fly-In” in Florida. Alex was a home built technical counselor and flight adviser chairman at Oshkosh for two years and served as the chairman of the builders programs and safety committee for three years. He was awarded the Tony Bingelis award in 2004, the President’s award in 2001, and the Leadership and Service award from the Experimental Aircraft Association. He received many other awards both from golf and the aviation world. He was the founding father of the EAA chapter No. 615 in Muscle Shoals.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Barbara J. Sloan, and son-in-law, Larry J. Halbert.

He is survived by his son, Scott A. Sloan, Florence; daughter, Shannon S. Halbert, Florence; grandson, Hunter W. Halbert, Houston, Texas; sister, June Hubbard, Kewanee, Illinois; brother, Fred A. Sloan, Florida; and many nieces and nephews. Honorary pallbearers will be his Florence State golf team and his extended EAA family.

Shannon and Scott would like to thank their parents caregiver, Ms. Judy Fountain, and extend their infinite gratitude for the precious love and care she gave both parents. She will always be a part of their extended family. They would like to thank Dr. Lyman Mitchell, who was also one of Alex’s junior golfers, and Hospice of Tennessee Valley for their love and support.

Memorial gifts may be made to UNA Foundation RE: Burns/Sloan Golf Team Endowment, UNA Box 5113 Rogers Hall, Florence, AL 35630, or First Christian Church Property fund, 700 N. Avenue, Florence, AL 35630