On Veterans Day, DeSoto ISD celebrates one of its own

On Veterans Day this year, DeSoto ISD highlighted the life and career of Sgt. First Class Larry Alexander, who had a 20-year military career.

Alexander works in the district’s plant services department, which handles maintenance and custodial duties, including facility and grounds maintenance, remodeling and construction

He served in Germany, Saudi Arabia and Iraq and was later stationed at Fort Hood and in Alaska and Massachusetts, the district said in a news release.

“The Army was a family,” Alexander told the district. “We had to learn how to deal with all types of people and work together. We all still stay in touch.”

He said these core values helped him and his unit return safely after their service.

“I took NCO [Non-Commissioned Officer] leadership courses at Fort Benning, and I taught the National Guard in Massachusetts,” Alexander said. “Discipline is critical to leadership and leadership determines success. When we went into Iraq, I took 32 soldiers in and I brought 32 soldiers back.”

After retiring from the military in 1994 and returning to Texas to support his mother, Alexander was DeSoto’s supervisor of parks, retiring again after 14 years.

“Leadership skills were critical in this job,” he said in the news release. “I didn’t know much about parks, but I knew people, and how to encourage them to be their very best. Listening to the team and making sure they had the resources to do their job resulted in success for all of us.”

Soon after retiring from the city, DeSoto ISD asked him to work in plant services, and he hasn’t left since.

“The former manager asked me to come help out on a project, so I said OK. Then he left, but I’m still here,” he said in the release. “I really enjoy being around the kids though, they just make my day.”

Alexander and his wife of 48 years have three children and seven grandchildren. Two of the grandchildren are DeSoto ISD students.