Dorothy Taylor Alexander was born in Missoula, Montana in 1926 to Emmett and Winifred Taylor. Her family owned a home on Flathead Lake. As a girl, she worked at the grocery store attached to the Elks Rest, a small resort on Flathead Lake that was run by the local chapter of the Elks Lodge. She attended the University of Montana, then Montana State University, majoring in voice with a minor in drama. It was while at MSU that she met her husband, James Alexander, who was born in Seattle, Washington to A.D. and Mary Alexander, and had moved to Missoula when he was 12 years old. They married in 1941. Dorothy taught dance to Missoula youth during World War II, and in November 1949 was featured on the cover of Montana Treasure magazine. The pair moved briefly to Yakima, Washington in the early 1950s, where Dorothy was part of a local theater troupe. However, in the 1952, Dorothy, James and their daughter Denise moved back to Kalispell, where Dorothy got a job as a salesperson at Walford Neon Signs and Outdoor Advertising Company.
From the description of Dorothy Taylor Alexander Interview, 2007. (Montana Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 755095966