Aurora restaurant gift certificate

End of the trail

JOSEPH AYAGARAK SR., 82, died Oct. 29 in Anchorage. Born in Hooper Bay, Ayagarak worked as a maintenance engineer at Chevak School, retiring in 1989. Avagarak never attended school but was a self-taught carpenter, subsistence hunter and cultural educator. He traveled with the Tanqik Theater company from 1985 to 1988 to places like New Zealand, Fiji, Russia, Hawaii and California.

RICHARD HARLAN BRAND, 69, died Oct. 22 in Fairbanks. Brand moved in 1948 to Fairbanks where he was a construction worker on the Fairbanks International Airport runway. He later opened Brand's Plumbing and Well Drilling Co. in Fairbanks, and moved to a homestead in the area. Brand was an avid big game hunter and photographer.

ORVILLE BRASWELL, 89, died Aug. 28 in Nevada. Braswell moved to Cordova in 1941 and a year later moved to Nushagak where he worked in the Wood River Cannery. He owned and operated a saltery in Nushagak and was a set-netter there until 1975. Braswell started a potato farm near Dillingham in 1950 and continued to grow and sell his vegetables until 1986.

MARTHA WHITE BRUSH, 102, died Sept. 19 in Fairbanks. Born in CircLe, Brush grew up in Nulato. She lived a subsistence lifestyle, gathering her own firewood by dog team, trapping beaver, snaring rabbits and fishing the Yukon River. She enjoyed beadwork, knitting and skin sewing.

FLORENCE CLAYTON, 86, died Oct. 19 in Anchorage. Clayton moved in the late 1950s to Glennallen where she and husband Dick built and operated the Caribou Motel and Restaurant, and Santa's Clothing and Gift Shop. Clayton was instrumental in organizing the Copper Valley Community Library, the annual Fourth of July Parade and the community Christmas tree lighting ceremony She published The Copper Valley Current newspaper in the 19G(ls.

BARBARA JANE GREEN, 95, died Sept. 30 in Cordova. Green came to Cordova with husband Ross in 1940 for a short visit-they never left. Green was a desk clerk at the Windsor Hotel and a dispatcher for Pops Taxi. She was a retired postal worker and administered the local Food Stamp program for many years.

PLATONIDA GROMOFF 68, died Sept. 11 in Unalaska. Born in St. George, Gromoff moved to Unalaska from Sr. Paul Island in 1966 to work as a community health aide and midwife. She taught the Aleut bilingual language program at Unalaska school, as well as Aleut basket weaving and the crafting of fur dolls. She was active in church activities and was a foster parent. Flags were lowered to half-staff at Unalaska civ buildings in Gro moffs honor

MARGARET ISABELLA CALDER HAGGLAND, 97, died Oct. 5 in Fairbanks. Haggland and family moved in 1939 to Fairbanks where she was active in the State Homemakers Council teaching homemaking classes at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Soroptomists named her Woman-of-the-Year in recognition of her work with the Indian and Eskimo girls in the area. In 1972, Haggland was selected as the Alaska Mother-of-the-Year and represented the state at the American Mothers Committee meeting in New York. She enjoyed planting flowers at the Fairbanks Pioneers' Home.

DONALD T KOBIEROWSKI, 73, died Sept. 11 in Delta Junction. Kobierowski moved to Alaska in the 1940s, settling in Delta Junction in 1959. He owned and operaced D&M Heating in Delta junction, was one of Delta's first emergency medical technicians and was on the Delta Rescue Squad and Volunteer Fire Department. He earned national attention in 1973 when he traveled to California to pick up Deltas new fire truck that had been purchased entirely with Betty Crocker coupons. Kobierowski was the mayor of Delta Junction, served on the city council, and was an avid beekeeper.

JOEL W. KOTTKE, 84, died Oct.1 in Anchorage. Kottke came to Anchorage in the early 1940s and homesteaded on 40 acres off what is now Arctic Boulevard and Raspberry Road. He was an active member of the Aurora Dog Mushers Association and finished the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1974. Kottke was a beekeeper and an avid gardener.

RAYMOND NIELSEN SR., 70, died Oct. 24 in Washington. Born in Sitka, Nielsen was given the Tlingit names Kaasei.eesh and Koox'anaak, and was the leader of the Chookaneidi Clan of rhe Porpoise crest. Nielsen was well-known for his Tlingit carvings; Nielsen and his father carved a panel for the Seattle World's Fair.

HANK OSTROSKY, 71, died Oct. 3 in Anchorage. Born in Connecticut, Ostrosky moved in 1948 to Alaska where he worked as a bush pilot, cattle rancher and commerciaL fisherman. He was the publisher and editor of the Bristol Bay News newspaper from 1960 to 1971 and played a key role in the formation of the Bristol Bay Borough. Ostrosky was active in Native rights and was a sovereignty advocate and consultant to many Native groups, and a thorn in the sides of many others. His friends and foes say he never compromised his beliefs.

HERMAN SILIUNA REXFORD, 83, died Ocr. 25 in Anchorage. Born in Barrow, Rexford herded reindeer near Kaktovik and served in the Alaska National Guard. He held a seat as a city councilman and was an elder in the Kaktovik Presbyterian Church, translating the Bible into Inupiat for missionaries and preachers. Rexford enjoyed playing bingo, the harmonica, knitting gloves and yodeling.

FREDERICK W. STICKMAN JR., 64, died OCt. 24 in Anchorage. Bom in Koyukuk, Stickman was mayor of Nu\ato and also served on the city council. For many years, Stickman operated a cab service in Nulato, worked as the city's agent for Frontier Flying Service and was the fuel depot manager for the city of Nulato. Stickman enjoyed old-time music and dancing.

GWENDOLYN T WESTON, 92, died Sept. 21 in Washington. Weston moved in 1946 to Fairbanks where she served on the board of rhe USO Council from 1950 to 1970, and was director of rhe Farthest North Girl Scout Council for 20 years. She was honored as the Queen regent of the Fairbanks Ice Carnival and was named Womanof-the-Year by the Fairbanks Soroptomist Club. Weston also owned and operated The Carousel, the only children's store in Fairbanks, from 1960 to 1977.

KENNETH W. WRAY, 84, died Oct. 2 in Anchorage. Wray moved in 1953 to Fairbanks and worked for the Fairbanks Daily NewsAiner newspaper. He then moved to Anchorage where he worked for the Anchorage Daily News. He operated Ken Wray's Printing Inc. in Anchorage for 35 years. Wray was an avid Anchorage Glacier Pilots baseball fan. He built model railroads and had an extensive collection of railroad memorabilia.

Notices are limited, because of space, to names of those who have achieved pioneer status through many years in the North, or who have made significant contributions to the state.

Union Visionary

A FORMER HASH-HOUSE WAITRESS who rose to president of the Alaska Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, Lorena Showers, 93, died Sept. 28 in Anchorage.

Born in a log cabin in Iowa, Showers started working at 13, became a waitress at 16, earned a teaching certificate at 18, then taught in a one-room schoolhouse for several years.

"I worked seven days a week, 10 hours a day and got no overtime pay, she once told a reporter. "Everybody should have a taste of that. Being poor or working in poor conditions makes you a good union person."

Showers moved to Juneau in 1940, settling in Anchorage in 1941. Known as a waitress who could deliver the right orders to 20 customers without writing anything down, she had worked at the Anchorage Grill, The Star Cafe and the Lucky Shot Cafe.

She became the financial secretary of Local 878 in 1950 and, in 1952, negotiated the first-ever paid health benefits package for hotel and restaurant workers in Alaska. In 1966 she started a union pension fund with deductions from her own salary.

During construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, she forged an unofficial alliance with Teamsters Union boss Jesse Carr that paved the way for thousands of her union members to find work cooking and cleaning in 17 construction camps along the pipeline route.

Showers served nearly 40 years as a vice president of the state AFLCIO. In 1990, she published the book Fifty Years, a history of the union movement in Alaska. She was president of her local when she died.

In 1974, Gov. William A. Egan presented Showers with a certificate of appreciation for her unselfish service to the Governor's Advisory Committee on Aging. In 1982, she was honored by the American Association of Retired Persons, which presented her with a distinguished achievement award. The union leader enjoyed writing, traveling, politics, and volunteering at the Anchorage Senior Center.

"She was one of our heroes," says Mano Frey, president of the state AFL-CIO. "She was a visionary."

-Anchorage Daily News