Ms. T Scholarship

About Ms. T

Rochelle Denise Tilghman was born April 23, 1959, in St. Louis, Missouri, to the late John Oliver Tilghman and Cassandra Howard. She was the fourth of six children. Rochelle loved God! She accepted Christ into her life at a young age and made sure she never missed mass at Sts. Joachim and Ann Catholic Church in St. Peters, Mo., and St. Nicholas Catholic Church in the city of St. Louis.

Educated in the Catholic school system, she attended St. Barbara Catholic School during her grade school years, then St. Mark for high school. After St. Mark closed, she graduated from LaBoure High School in 1977. It was that same year she married Harold Alexander, and from that union, her first daughter – Rashonda (Roe) was born in 1979. During this time, she worked in the Wellston School District as a payroll supervisor.

Education was extremely important to Rochelle, and she remained committed to earning multiple degrees, even after starting a family. She often encouraged those around her to achieve their goals and take advantage of educational opportunities. After high school, she attended the University of Missouri – St. Louis and earned a Bachelor of Science in Business degree. She received her certified public accountant designation shortly after, then went on to earn a Master’s of Science in Taxation from Fontbonne University.

In 1991, she gave birth to her second daughter, Maikieta. With her girls always by her side, Rochelle set out to conquer the world, and she did it with so much style and grace. She loved her daughters more than anything, and she made caring and providing for them her main priority. Their traditions included traveling and simply bonding like only a mother and her daughters could. She instilled in them the ability to be resilient and God-fearing, just as she was. She was always so proud of them and everything they accomplished, serving as their biggest advocate in life. On August 27, 2015, her beloved grandson, Cairo, was born, and he brought so much joy to her life. She absolutely adored him!

She was a natural workaholic, and in her fierce and feisty way, she could work a room like no other. Rochelle had so many professional gifts – accounting, real estate, and networking, to name a few. As her career blossomed, she worked as the Assistant Controller at The Racquet Club on South Kingshighway; St. Louis Job Corps as the Director of Administration and Support Services, then landed at Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU), where she was initially hired as the Comptroller. Rochelle was later promoted to Vice President of Business and Financial Affairs.

In 2002, Rochelle started her very successful real estate company, Tilghman Properties, LLC. Building quite an impressive real estate portfolio, she touched the lives of so many of her tenants, maintenance, and construction crews. She’d purchase gifts for the children of her tenants and distribute them every year for Christmas. She left HSSU for a brief time to attend the Summer Law Institute at Saint Louis University and later returned as the Assistant Vice President of Business and Financial Affairs, a position she held until she moved on to explore other opportunities. Ms. T., as the was affectionately called by her Harris-Stowe family, played a major role in the name change of Harris-Stowe State College to Harris-Stowe State University and in all of the university’s campus expansion efforts.

Rochelle was an avid fitness guru, on and off campus, and organized exercise classes for faculty, staff, and students. Being healthy and fit was something she was thoroughly committed to, as she often spoke about becoming a female body builder and making a name for herself in the industry. One of her favorite work out activities was spinning classes. She had a knack for mentoring and connecting with people, and at the university, she touched so many lives in so many ways! Once she loved you, it never wavered, and she loved you forever. That love was felt in every interaction she had with you. A natural problem solver and fixer, she was always there, most times, with no questions asked. Needless to say, she had a lot of friends that loved and cherished her. Within her various circles of work, church, the gym, and long-time childhood relationships, she was the best girlfriend you could ask for, and she will always be remembered for being so encouraging, generous, down-to-earth, and simply down for whatever.