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Glenn Alexander is a man who sees opportunity at every corner.

His positive outlook is pretty contagious, especially when looking at how his choices in life led to success while positively influencing others.

Alexander drops nuggets of wisdom as he speaks but doesn’t make a big deal out of it — he lets the listener pick up those tidbits and use it as he or she may.

The Port Arthur native retired from his work as a pediatric nurse practitioner after years of healing bodies and is now healing spirits as a minister and leading a theology school.

“Mary, I think I may end up doing some counseling … because they’ve got so much mental health problems until it’s just unbelievable,” Alexander, 77, told me recently during an interview for our Black History Month series.

“I think I have 12 Christian counselors here, and we’re going to do some work in the community to try to alleviate some of the things. You know, we can’t if the problem is too big, but we’re going to do what we can do.”

And that’s just how he is. He has the opportunity to help others and is making a plan to do just that.

Alexander has done this for many years. There were the trips to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, where he gave medical help to children in the impoverished country. Others from the city and area also went and provided services, including tending to spiritual needs.

Alexander recalls the skin clinics and the many children with scabies he treated. There were so many people needing medical care; he knew his energy to keep going came from God.

I’ve known Glenn Alexander for about as long as I’ve worked at The Port Arthur News. I remember early on sitting in his office at his clinic interviewing him for a story.

His school of theology came about around 2014, he said. So that was news to me during our recent interview.

He spoke of working with children in his church’s day care and giving them the foundation needed in life, as well as during church services at Ruach Ministries International. They have Spanish-speaking parishioners who are teaching a Spanish word to the others there.

“That’s how we can take a little bit at a time,” he said. “After a while you’ll be at conversations.”

When he’s not busy with his school of theology and serving as a pastor alongside his wife and fellow pastor Yoshia Alexander, the couple likes to visit with their children and grandchildren.

Side note: his wife Yoshi is equally interesting, intelligent and a nice person! I’ve also known her for many years.

Mary Meaux is a news reporter at The Port Arthur News. She can be reached at mary.meaux@panews.com.

READ MORE: Glenn Alexander guided on path to helping others in Port Arthur.