John "Jack" Alexander

On August 28, 1958, Angelina married John Cameron "Jack" Alexander of Billings, Montana, a man fifteen years her junior. Although no formal marriage certificate has yet been located, the marriage date is confirmed, and it is strongly believed the ceremony took place in Elko, Nevada—a common destination at the time for quick and discreet marriages. Their relationship soon proved turbulent. A Carbon County News legal notice dated November 28, 1963, later confirmed court action involving the couple. Despite the instability, Angelina and John Alexander never divorced and stayed married until her death.

In September 2020, I reached out to the El Dorado County Library in Placerville, California, at 345 Fair Lane, hoping to uncover more about Angelina and Jack Alexander's later years in South Lake Tahoe. Librarian Bonnie Battaglia responded with extraordinary generosity, sending me two obituaries that I had never seen before—documents that finally illuminated the closing chapter of their lives. She also connected me with the Tahoe Branch of the El Dorado County Libraries, where the research gained new momentum.

Every step of this research reinforced the quiet persistence of Angelina's story. Even decades after the Ideal Hotel faded from Sheridan's memory, traces of her life continued to surface, on postcards, in business listings, through matchbooks, and in the recollections of community members. The Tahoe chapter of Angie and Jack Alexander's life remains incomplete, but thanks to the dedication of archivists, librarians, and historians, it is no longer lost to time.

In 2025, I made one final attempt to trace living connections when I spoke with Donna Dyer, a woman mentioned in John "Jack" Alexander's obituary. Unfortunately, she had never known Angelina and was unable to provide any insight into their life together in Tahoe. With that, the remaining personal history of Angie and Jack's California years once again slipped beyond reach.

Today, despite extensive archival research, library assistance, and direct outreach to surviving connections, the full story of Angie and Jack Alexander's life in South Lake Tahoe remains largely hidden—known only through fragments of business records, newspaper notices, postcards, matchbooks, and the dedication of those who helped search for her. What survives is a silhouette rather than a full portrait: a woman who repeatedly reinvented herself, built and lost businesses, and then vanished quietly from public record, leaving behind only the faint impressions of a once-formidable presence.