Alma (Alexander) Somerville ’49

Alma (Alexander) Somerville ’49 of Peoria, Illinois, died Feb. 26, 2021. Alma studied music at Illinois Wesleyan, where she was a drum majorette and active in Delta Omicron. She went on to a career as a singer, music teacher and choir director at Forrest Hill United Methodist Church of Peoria. She sang with the Peoria Philharmonic Chorale and was a soloist for the Christian Science Church. Alma and her late husband Ross Somerville ’51 lived in Bloomington, Illinois; St. Louis; Peoria; Las Vegas; Champaign, Illinois; and Belvidere, Illinois. In Las Vegas, she sang at UNLV with the Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society and University United Methodist Church Choir. Alma also worked in several retail stores, retiring from Carson Pirie Scott in Urbana, Illinois, in 1986. She was an avid reader and painter, and enjoyed time spent with her family. She is survived by two children, including Susie (Somerville) Brown ’79, five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. 

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