David Stanley Alkins

The Rev. David Stanley Alkins, D.D. Father Alkins died peacefully at his Seaview home on May 4, 2015. He was born April 20, 1922 in Bingham, Maine to Maurice and Barbara (Reynolds) Alkins. After schooling in Bingham he graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music in organ performance. While a church organist in Texas he met and married Jeanne Lorraine Dozier. They later divorced. A strong call to the Sacred Ministry led him to attend the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, New Haven, Connecticut. He was ordained a Priest of the Episcopal Church in 1951 and served two churches in Texas before moving to the Northwest where he was rector of Christ Church, Seattle, and St. Paul's Church, Walla Walla. He married Freda Dorothy Eyestone in 1970. She died in 2007. On a secular level he was director of the Washington Association for Retarded Children and the National Center for Law & the Handicapped. He became head of Brooks Divinity School in 1979 and received his Doctor of Divinity degree in 1987. Father Alkins' life was centered on loving and compassionate service. His influence was gentle but persuasivehe brought about change of the better everywhere God placed him. His loving nature and warm smile will linger in the hearts of all who knew him. Adored by his family and friends, he has gone home to "make glad the City of God". He is survived by his wife Joan of Seaview; daughter Mary Gehling (Guy); son Peter Alkins (Rhonda Brooks; step-children Bill Eyestone (Jan), Judy Daugherty, Jerry Eyestone, and George Curren; grandchildren Paxton and Hanne Gehling, Caitlin Gehling, Kelly Brooks and Miles Alkins. He was preceded in death by a son. A service of Holy Eucharist in his memory will be held in conjunction with the morning service at St. Peter Episcopal Church in Seaview at 9:15 AM on Sunday May 31st, 2015. Private family service of Christian Burial will be held in Tumwater, Washington. Memorials are requested to the American Parkinson Association, VA Medical Center, 1660 S. Columbian Way, Seattle, WA 98108. His guestbook is available at www.penttilaschapel.com.