Timothy Edgar Alston, Jr.

Mr. Timothy Edgar Alston, Jr., age 81, of Sanford, NC transitioned to eternal rest on Sunday, August 25, 2024, at his residence. 

 The funeral service will be livestreamed. Please click the link in the service information below

The Obituary

Timothy Edgar Alston Jr., son of the late Timothy E. and Ida Chalmers Alston departed this life at his home, on the morning of August 25, 2024.  

Timothy, known by his family and friends as Junior, was born in Chatham County, North Carolina.  He was President of the 1961 graduating class of seniors at J.S. Waters High School in Goldston, North Carolina.  After graduation, he enlisted into the military and served our country for three years earning the rank of Specialist in the U.S. Army.  After leaving the military, he briefly returned home to the Gulf but soon left.  With the encouragement and support from his sister Clara and brother-in-law George Reaves, Junior moved to Connecticut for an opportunity to prosper beyond what was possible in the Gulf, with a dream of always returning home to family. As fate would have it, his high-school sweetheart, Joyce Marsh, had also moved north to New York City where they rekindled their love and married on December 18, 1965.  

With the backing of a loving and supportive wife, Junior had the foundation to bring his dreams to reality. While in New Haven, Connecticut, he and his wife Joyce welcomed their first child Eric Emmanual Alston.  While maintaining a full-time job as a machinist at Pratt & Whitney, Junior, and Joyce opened a laundromat, owned rental properties, and purchased a house to call home.  Timothy worked at Pratt Whitney. He had to get up at 5 am to be there by 7 am and leave work at 3 pm to be at the laundromat where his wife Joyce was managing the business. The laundromat would be open from 8 am to 9 pm.  After counting the money and prepping for the next day they would leave around 11 pm.   With only a few hours of sleep, the “cycle” would start again.

Protecting his family and staying to his plan, he moved the family to Sanford with a baby boy, Kevin Reyshawn Alston, on the way in 1976.  While in New Haven, he coordinated with his sister Margaret Martin to build a home for his family in Sanford.   Once in Sanford, Junior found a career in manufacturing working at Sanford Machine and Tool.  After a few months, Tim moved to GKN as an advanced Tool and Die Maker, and soon after he and Joyce opened a restaurant named Timothy’s.  Within a few years, Brian Douglas Alston was born in 1984.

Junior’s mechanical aptitude and love for cars allowed him to enjoy a hobby of rebuilding a multitude of classic vehicles that became and still is a family past-time with all his son’s and wife.

He and his wife retired from GKN and have been married for over 59 years. While retired, Junior became a patent holder and inventor of the sclera lens applicator ring that is selling around the world helping people with keratoconus apply their sclera contact lenses.  

On a cool Sunday morning, the day he had planned to go outside, he was called to glory peacefully at 7:14 am at home with his family by his side.  

He was preceded in death by his sister: Catherline Jones; brothers: James Alston, Thomas Monroe Alston

He leaves behind his devoted wife, Joyce Alston; his sons, Eric Alston Sr. (Ruth); Mooresville, North Carolina, Kevin Alston, Sanford, North Carolina, and Brian Alston (Shea) Charlotte, North Carolina; grandsons, Eric Alston Jr. "EJ", Mooresville, North Carolina, Landon William and Bryson Timothy Alston, Charlotte, North Carolina; sisters, Margaret Martin, Siler City, North Carolina,  Clara Reaves, West Haven, Connecticut, Clarissa Gunter, Massachusetts, and Louise Black, Fayetteville, North Carolina; sister in-law, Martha Cooper, Hemingway South Carolina; brother in-law, Steve Marsh, Bear Creek, North Carolina; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

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Professional services entrusted to Knotts Funeral Home - Sanford, NC