Sorted by date Results 43 - 67 of 415
Myra Arlene Sarber passed with her family by her side April 14 in Sunnyside, Oregon. Myra was born the sixth child of seven in Spokane, Washington, to Thelma Irene and Faber Sebastian Wondzell. In 1951, her family moved by steamship to Wrangell in the territory of Alaska. 1955 brought a consistent and loving stepfather, Albert Ronning. She married her lifelong love, Homer Sarber, in Petersburg in 1962, and they settled down in Ketchikan to raise their family. Myra and Homer lived in Ketchikan...
Frank Duane Kelly, 86, of Wrangell, passed away April 30 in Wrangell after battling a long illness. He was born in North Dakota on Feb. 23, 1937. He enlisted at a young age and served four years in the U.S. Army. After an honorable discharge from the service, he began his journey and love for Alaska. He logged and fished throughout Southeast until choosing to settle in Wrangell with his sister Patricia and brother-in-law Bill Overbay. "Everyone knew Duane as just 'Kelly,'" his family wrote. "He...
It is with immeasurable sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother and dear friend Constance (Connie) Mae Buness on April 14, 2023. Born to Bonita (Bunny) and Hugo Stoke on January 16, 1934, in Tomahawk , Wisconsin, Connie was raised primarily in Tacoma, Washington, with her older brother James (Jimmy) Stoke. After high school graduation, Connie entered nursing school, but her newly discharged Army fiancé Oliver (Ole) had other ideas, which...
Robert Paul "Bob" Farrell, 79, of Wrangell, passed away on March 21 in his home. He will be buried at Sitka National Cemetery on Thursday, May 11. Bob was born in Boston to Anna Elizabeth McGuigan and John Francis Farrell on May 18, 1943. He went to high school at Needham High School, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1961. He joined the Army on July 22, 1964, and served in Vietnam during the war. He was honorably discharged on July 21, 1970. Bob went on to earn a certificate in electronics from...
Former Wrangell resident Elizabeth "Betty" Ann Twitchell Keegan, 90, passed away on March 31 in Moses Lake, Washington, following complications of a stroke. She was born April 19, 1932. As a child, Betty and her mother traveled the Lower 48 following Betty's father from Seattle to San Diego and Miami with stops in between while he served as a career sailor in the U.S. Navy. During World War II, Betty and her mother lived with her grandmother in Wilkeson, Washington, when her father fought in...
Dave Hartung, 71, of Wrangell, passed away March 5, 2023, in Portland, Oregon. He was surrounded by his family and loved ones. A celebration of life was held in Portland on March 26. Dave was born and raised in Portland. He demonstrated his mechanical abilities at a very young age, and was even known to help the nuns in grade school with some basic car maintenance. (It wouldn't surprise anyone to hear that he was known to let the air out of the tires at recess, so he could get called out of...
Randy William Churchill Jr., 39, of Wrangell, passed away on Feb. 22, 2023, after a logging accident. Randy was born on Dec. 27, 1983, to Carol and Randy Churchill Sr. at Wrangell General Hospital. After graduating from Wrangell High School in 2002 he went on to study welding at the Alaska Vocational Technical Center (AVTEC) in Seward, and graduated in May 2003 with welding technology and pipe welding technology certificates. After graduating, Randy started his first welding job in Bellingham...
George Phillips, 74, of Wrangell, passed away from lung cancer at the Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System Medical ICU in Seattle on Feb. 24. A celebration of life is planned for 2 p.m. April 1 at the Harbor Light Assembly of God Church in Wrangell. George was born on Jan. 19, 1949, to George and Betty Jane Phillips in Kalispell, Montana. When he was 8 years old, his parents moved to Oregon, where his mother could carry on with her music career. When his parents moved to Astori...
Longtime resident Luella Rae Davidson, known as "Grandma Lou," passed away Jan. 31 in Wrangell. A celebration of life will be held at Harbor Light Church at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, with a small potluck reception to follow downstairs. "If you are able to bring a dish to share, please do," her family wrote. Luella was born Feb. 28, 1937, in California to Ralph and Dale Schrader. They moved to Oregon where she attended Roseburg High School where she met her future husband, Kenneth Davidson. They...
Charmaine Honey Benston, 63, passed away on Feb. 1 in Klawock. She was born on Dec. 20, 1959, in Wrangell to Gladys and Gilbert Gunderson. She was the youngest member of the family. As a child she resided in Wrangell, attending school and later getting her GED. She moved to Klawock on Prince of Wales Island, where she met her husband, Carl Benston, in 1997. They were married on July 2, 1999. "She loved Prince of Wales Island, especially as each season came and went and putting up traditional...
Felix Villarma, 90, passed away on Jan. 22 in Wrangell. He was born on Feb. 28, 1932, in Wrangell. "He loved Wrangell!" the family wrote. "From a very early age, Felix was a hard worker. He cut halibut cheeks, sold scrap fish to the local mink farm, and was a paperboy for the Wrangell Sentinel." He graduated from Wrangell High School in 1949, where he was an excellent basketball player. He also worked as a deck hand on several different boats during those years. In the fall of 1950, he left...
Marlene Ann Clarke passed away Feb. 7 in the Wrangell long-term care facility. She was born on April 3, 1936, to Nellie Prescott and Howard Messinger in Wrangell. She spent most of her childhood in Wrangell except for short stays in Juneau, Haines and Anchorage. She came back in the third grade and graduated from Wrangell High School in 1954. Working summers in the shrimp and fish canneries gave her the push to move to California to try something different after graduation. She took business...
Former Wrangell resident Dennis Robert Berkeley, 76, passed away after a courageous battle with cancer on Dec. 7, 2022, in Sitka, his family reported. He was surrounded by family and friends, and was visited by many close friends and family during his final stay in Sitka. A service will be held on his birthday, Saturday, Feb. 18, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Elks Lodge in Wrangell. He was born Feb. 18, 1946, in Petersburg, and grew up in Kake, where he developed his love for commercial fishing and...
Christine Jenkins passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on January 4, 2023, at the age of 94. She was a lifelong Wrangell resident and a much-loved and respected member of the Wrangell community. Cecelia Christine Feller was born October 12, 1928, in Wrangell to Otto and Susie (Cooday) Feller. She was the youngest of seven children. She was Tlingit Raven/Frog, Kiks.a'di of the Sun House in Wrangell and was a tribal citizen of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. Christine...
Lifelong resident Harvey Gross came to the end of the trail and met death on Nov. 30, 2022, at the Wrangell SEARHC medical hospital. Born in Wrangell on April 7, 1929, to his Tlingit mother Bessie (Nickerson) Gross and Father William (Bill) Gross Sr., Harvey was the youngest of five children. Like so many who were poor during the Great Depression, he described living those years as "the chicken in the summer and the feathers in the winter." About 1935, the family took up homesteading on the...
Ronald D. Kagee passed away Nov. 17 at the Wrangell Medical Center. Burial is planned for 1 p.m. on Dec. 6 at the Sunset Gardens Cemetery. No reception is planned. Ron was born to Bill and Toney Kagee on March 14, 1936, in Longview, Washington. He joined the U.S. Army shortly after graduating from high school in Castle Rock, Washington. He spent two years in the military in Germany and played the bugle. He then worked as a cutter in logging, working in Washington and Oregon before coming to Alas...
Former Wrangell real estate broker John L. Tullis Sr., 99, passed away peacefully with his two daughters present on Sept. 28 in Camas, Washington. Tullis was born on Jan. 16, 1923, in Pendleton, Oregon. He was raised on a ranch, caring for animals, pitching hay, building fences, cleaning the barn and cooking with his mom. He was one of six kids, second from the bottom. He drove a Model T Ford to high school and later sold it for $25. Serving in the Navy during World War II took him to the...
William Gregory Aalbertsberg dies at 74 William "Will" Gregory Aalbertsberg, 74, passed away on July 30. He had lived in Wrangell since 2009. William was born on July 29, 1948, in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. As a young man, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps as soon as he could. "He loved telling the tale of how he celebrated his 17th birthday in boot camp," his family wrote. Will was proud of his service, and a lifelong love of the shooting sports and weaponry took hold as he earned his M14...
Dylan Wyatt Kirschner, 26, passed away on Aug. 26 "after a brief but courageous battle with cancer," his family wrote. Dylan was born on Feb. 16, 1996, in Wrangell and moved to the Yakima, Washington, area with his parents and younger brother Dawson in 2001. Dylan was an avid video gamer and music lover who played the guitar and ukulele. He played as much as his free time allowed. "We will all miss hearing him play," his family wrote. "Though Dylan moved from Alaska when he was very young, he re...
Karen Martin-Webster "Bubbles," 69, passed away on Aug. 26. Karen was born March 11, 1953. She moved to Wrangell in the late 1970s and lived there through the 1980s, when she decided to move to Petersburg to work at Petersburg Fisheries. She and husband, Darrell Webster, moved south for a few years to be near her mom and then moved back to Wrangell in 2015. They lived in Wrangell until January 2022. Karen worked as a bartender, dogcatcher, dispatcher, worked pulling lumber on the green chain in...
Arnold Elmer "Cappy" Bakke, 91, passed away surrounded by family at his side on Aug. 30 in Wrangell. Graveside services will be held at noon Friday, Sept. 9, with a reception to follow at the Elks Hall. Donations of food for the reception will be appreciated by the family. Contact Tammy at 907-305-0270. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Wrangell Fire Department or the Wrangell Mariners' Memorial. Arnold was born to Orlando Bakke and Marguret Gunyah on Oct. 25, 1930. He had four si...
John Paul Feller Jr. passed into the "happy hunting grounds" on Aug. 10 in Wrangell after a hard battle with cancer, his family wrote. "He will be greatly missed." A celebration of life will be held at a later time. John was born on Dec. 29, 1948, to John Paul Feller Sr. and Carol Alice (James) Feller Brady in Wrangell. The oldest of five children, John was someone who everyone looked up to and was a friend to all, his family wrote. John started fishing with his dad at a young age and his love...
Ron Winters, 81, of Wrangell, passed away peacefully on Aug. 14 from complications of diabetes and heart disease. He was born in Astoria, Oregon, in 1940 and went to high school in Forest Grove. He served in the U.S. Air Force. He had been in Alaska for more than 50 years, living in Anchorage, Homer, Cordova and Wrangell. He worked on the North Slope as a welder for several years and owned his own machine and welding shop in Homer, where he met his wife. They spent 20 years owning, operating...
Former Wrangell resident Leatha Vada Aitken "went home to her Lord" on July 19, in Juneau surrounded by family. Vada, as she was known, was born Nov. 12, 1931, to James Virgil and Maude Briscoe in Healdton, Oklahoma, and grew up in nearby Fox. The farm life was not easy, but Vada had happy times, her family wrote, especially with cousins Judy and JoAnn. Vada had two daughters with first husband, George Vaughan: Vicki, born in California, and Sandi, born in Juneau. After divorcing, Vada met and m...
Melville "Mel" John Bjorge, 53, of Wrangell, passed away on Sept. 12, 2021, from natural causes, the family said. Mel was born June 25, 1968, at Bishop Rowe Hospital. He was the last baby born at Bishop Rowe before the new Wrangell hospital opened. He was a 20-year employee of the hospital. "He was loved by all at the hospital, especially the long-term care residents," his family wrote. "He will be missed by all." He is survived by his father, Melville B "Bucky" Bjorge, and his mother, Carol...