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Mary Strange
March 1977 – November 2010
Mary Ellen Strange left us much too early and will always be remembered with love and fondness by her family and friends.
Mary Ellen, age 33 of Skagway, Alaska left this world as we know it on November 8, 2010. She is survived by her parents; Wayne and Linda Strange, sisters; Sheri (Robert) Pope, Sara (Ken) Livengood, Jen Strange and Kathy Strange; six nephews and two great-nephews and many close friends.
Mary was born on March 5, 1977 and spent her childhood in Indiana, Texas, and then Montana where she graduated from Colstrip High School in 1995. She had a natural gift for music, sports, crafts, culinary arts and loved adventure.
During her young adulthood, she began building her world-wide network of friends, who became part of her extended family. Working from spring to early fall at Yellowstone National Park and in later years at SOS in the port of Skagway, Alaska, allowed her to travel the world during the remainder of the year. She visited family and friends all over the states on her way to her world travels, and mesmerized all with her tales of the experiences she had and people she met in places such as Canada, Peru, Europe and Africa.
A glimpse into Mary’s world would find her studying a new language, cooking, baking, hiking, making jewelry, crocheting hats, tie dying shirts or spending time with friends. She had a special place in her heart for children, whether spending time helping out in Peruvian orphanages. sponsoring a young girl in Africa, or being Auntie Mary to Leo, son of good friend Mickie.
Mary lived the life that many only dream of. Material possessions meant little to this young woman, but time with friends and family meant everything.
Please consider making a donation to Compassion International or one of the Ujama Projects in honor of Mary Ellen Strange. These are two charities that Mary Ellen supported, and we know that it would be her dream for others to join in: www.compassion.com/ and www.ujamaahostel.com/
A memorial service was held on December 18th in Nashville, Tennessee at the Glendale Baptist Church, and another is being planned for Skagway in the spring of 2011.
You are also invited to participate in Mary’s online memorial by sharing your thoughts and/or pictures at: https://maryellenstrange.remembered.com/
Mary, may you find peace and comfort in the arms of the creator.
Nancy K. Schave
Sept. 1944 – Nov. 2009
Nancy Kay Schave was born on September 5, 1944 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. She grew up on a farm and belonged to the 4H and FFA as well as other youth organizations. She graduated high school in 1962, Western Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science in 1965, Eastern Michigan University in 1970 with a Masters Degree in Counseling, and the University of Michigan with a PhD in Education Administration in 1986. Through her career she was a classroom teacher, counselor, Assistant Principal, Principal, Assistant Superintendent, and Superintendent of Schools.
She was the first president and charter member of Alaskan Women in Education Administration, as well as a member in good standing and as an officer in a number of professional organizations; and an Elder of the Skagway First Presbyterian Church. After retiring from education she was a law enforcement Ranger with the National Park Service in Skagway, Alaska. She was a volunteer for years in the Skagway Volunteer Fire Department as an EMT III, an EMS Instructor, served as EMS Lieutenant, a firefighter and a search and rescue technician.
Nancy was preceded in death by her parents, John L. McClelland and Estelle L. McWilliams, and her daughter Jenny. She is survived by her husband of 30 years, Frank Wasmer; granddaughter Dainean; siblings Laura, Lee, Ruth, David, Nina, William and many cousins in and around Adrian, Michigan. She also has 18 grand children. She was Mom to many children, adopted or fostered, and six international exchange students.
She also leaves close ties with “Nancy’s Kids”, youth from the 1970s and 80s whom she mentored and taught in a school setting, church youth groups, and youth organizations. Nancy loved children and was always happiest when she was working with kids.
She passed away while on vacation with her husband and granddaughters in Orlando, Florida on November 13, 2009. She is mourned and will be missed all around the world.
The family also wanted to have the following poem from Alexander Stork run with the obituary. As a youth, Alexander spent a lot of time in Skagway in the 1990s and lived at the hostel off and on, usually showing up in the fall and staying weeks or months until he had to return to his native Germany. He loved Skagway so much that he brought back his whole family once for Alex's and his dad Klaus’s birthdays. He was another of “Nancy’s Kids.”
Wendell Fogliani
Jan. 1945 – July 2009
Wendell Louis Fogliani of Skagway passed away on July 24, 2009 in Juneau. He was 64.
Fogliani was born January 30, 1945 in Calienete, Nevada where he resided until 1950 when his family moved to Carson City, Nevada. He graduated in 1963 from Carson City High School, where he enjoyed basketball and baseball. Soon after graduation he started working with the State of Nevada.
In 1969 he was married to Gale Albin and they had two wonderful children. With a passion for cooking and finding ways to use every spice he could find, he decided to move his family to Skagway in 1976 where he followed his dream of being in “the last frontier” and learn everything he could about the culinary arts. He had many talents and there was nothing he would not try. He never met a stranger he didn’t like.
He was preceded in death by his mother Sarah Fogliani and father Jack Fogliani. He is survived by: son John J. Fogliani and wife Brenda of Bothell, Washington; daughter Sherina D. Paxton and husband Darren of Idaho; brother Milton Fogliani and Chris of Nevada; two nieces Shauna Nelson of Nevada and Tracy Kennedy of California; and five grandchildren, grandsons Joshua Cotton and Jacob Cotton of Idaho, grandson Ryan Fogliani of Washington, granddaughter Sunnie Cotton of Idaho, granddaughter Lauren Fogliani of Washington.
The family held a celebration of life for Wendell at the Skagway Brewing Company on Friday, July 31. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Skagway Firefighters Association, P.O. Box 421, Skagway, Alaska 99840.
Tag Eckles
1950-2009
Former Skagway piano player Tyler Dean “Tag” Eckles died at his home in Juneau on the morning of July 26, 2009, after a valiant fight against cancer, with his wife Hildegard and friends at his side. He was 59.
A long-time fixture in the Juneau and Southeast music scene, Tag lived in Juneau since 1971. He fell in love with the place while touring with his rock ‘n’ roll show band, Ben Roe. Since that time, he was known as a musician, composer, bon vivant and for many years, as Professor Phineas Poon, the beloved honky tonk piano player and comedian at the Red Dog Saloon. He created music for plays and films including “Pieces of Eight” (Perseverance Theatre), “The Shadow Walkers” and “Shooting the West.” He was a member of the Saint Paul Singers and in 1986 toured across Russia with the Alaska Performing Artists for Peace, in their effort to open the Alaska-Russia border.
Tag was a fixture in the old Soapy Smith Show in Skagway, playing the role of piano-playing con man Syd Dixon from 1974 to 1977. After the Soapy show merged with the Days of ’98 Show, Tag decided to stay in Juneau but kept up with friends here. Tag offered to produce Steve Hites’ first album, “Yukon Legacy”, arranging a live recording gig at the Red Dog. Tag again set up a 30th anniversary reunion show at the Red Dog last summer. He also was musical director for the KTOO-produced Skagway Centennial video series. At least once a summer on a break from the Red Dog scene, Tag would cruise through Skagway on his motorcycle and visit friends.
He is survived by his wife, Hildegard Sellner, of Juneau; daughter, April Powell; grandson, Thomas Tyler Powell; and son-in-law, Steven Powell, all of Houston; stepson, Nicholas Samoniego, of Juneau; brother, Gaylord Eckles, of Sierra Madre, Calif.; niece, Savanna Eckles, of Berkeley, Calif.; cousin, Tom Eckles, of Gualala, Calif.; godmother, Dixie Belcher, of Juneau; and countless friends he considered family.
He was a founding member of the notorious Juneau Fencing Club, an adopted member of the Eagle-Killer Whale clan (his Tlingit name is Skanuch), and a council member of Turning the Tides.
“He will be remembered by everyone who knew him for his ebullient high spirits, his unflagging optimism, his generosity and his great, great love of life, ” his wife said.
An open house potluck was held Aug. 2, at Hildegard Sellner’s and Tag’s house. A wake and poker run will be held on a weekend in September. Stay tuned for further information.
Benny Lingle
January 1927 - December 2009
Ben L. Lingle, 82, died peacefully in his sleep at his Skagway home on the morning of December 13, 2009.
It was a quiet passing for a man of such unbridled energy who raised a big family and turned a small hardware store and air service into successful year-round Skagway businesses.
Benny was born on January 7, 1927 in Hudson, North Carolina. The family’s one-room schoolhouse is now preserved in a state educational forest near Lenoir, NC. His mother and father moved the family to Ohio and then California when he was a young boy.
He entered the U.S. Army before graduating from high school, serving with a railroad battalion in Korea. He later moved with his family to Skagway, where his father George, mother Beulah, brother Gus, and sister Mary Jane had settled. He finished high school here and was initially employed by the White Pass and Yukon Route for several years as a chief mechanic.
About 1960, he began helping out at Skagway Hardware for the Dewar family, working part-time alongside Bea Hillery O’Daniel.
“I would like to buy this store, ” he told Bea one day. “Will you marry me?”
Bea said she didn’t know right then that she would “stop getting paychecks and become part of the inventory.”
They eventually sealed the deal with a marriage on June 9, 1961. This merger resulted in one of the biggest – and many would say the loudest – families in Skagway, with her four children, Mike, Kathleen, John and Dorothy, and his daughter Robin. And they even took in some neighbor kids for a while.
During one family feud, Benny ended up with a spatula of frosting in his beard, and then took off across the street after young Mike, who ran Benny right through a mud puddle. And there were many other chases, involving all the children.
Benny eventually ruled the Hardware at 4th and Broadway. He was famous for shouting down instructions in colorful language from the balcony above, but would also come downstairs and help customers with just about anything. Behind the scenes he was generous to those in need, and had a sweetness about him.
One night, as he was closing up the hardware store, he heard a whimper from the back in the dark. There he found a young girl with a fish hook stuck through her ear lobe. He took some wire cutters and carefully snipped the barbs off the hook so it would come out easily, and sent her home.
The hardware business grew into the building next door, and they also bought a lumber yard from Hans Soldin just across the alley.
Eventually the day-to-day operation was turned over to his son John D., and now his grandson John L.”O’D”. Benny still had an office in the building and checked in often while he still had his health. He stopped coming in when he couldn’t remember if he was there to shred mail or shred people.
He also was fond of flying and in 1964 filled a valuable need in the community, establishing Skagway Air Service with Eric Selmer and Gil Meroney. Benny eventually took over the business entirely, running it with his son Mike for many of its 43 years. They also established offices in Juneau and Haines and flew to Gustavus as well. They retired the business in June 2007. The last flight arrived under an arch of water from two Skagway fire trucks.
There were many memorable flights. One involved carrying a Juneau band back home after playing the New Year’s Eve dance on Dec. 31, 1973. The band chipped in to buy a 400-pound pig during a service auction, and wanted to fly it to Juneau with them. “Not in my new airplane, ” Benny told them. But seeing how they were now in a jam, he bought the pig from the band. Benny then took it over to Jack Brown’s garage, but got a call later that the pig had eaten everything inside the garage. They finally butchered the pig and cooked it in Wes Nelson’s smoker, which had been used that summer for salmon. Those who ate that particular pig recall it had a funny taste. It either tasted like fish, or something worse, as the swine had resided at the old city dump.
The Lingles loved to socialize. From fun times at Moe’s after work, to bowling with the Hardware “Everything from Nuts to Nipples” team at the Elks, to their Christmas Eve fudge and egg nog parties which have become a community tradition, they knew how to have a party. For many years, their home on Third Ave. was the place to be on New Year’s Day, with all the chili and hangover salad you could eat and an open bar to cure any survivors from the night before. Those parties lasted until they began their winter moves to Arizona a few years ago.
Benny and Bea never really retired. They were always on the go. They would drive their big motorhome down to Mesa for the winters, and spend long summer weekends at their Carcross cabin or camping in the Yukon. When their families started a canoe trip on some Yukon river, Bea and Ben would show up in their camper van “Awesome” to see them off. But their base was always Skagway.
And when his health started failing him this fall, Benny made the decision to stay home this winter. He had a great Thanksgiving with family. Until the end, his mind was still sharp, and when he could get the words out, he would recall many Skagway memories from working on the railroad, to flying adventures, to the toga party at the Elks where he ran off the teachers (all was forgiven in that incident, and he eventually became Exalted Ruler of BPOE #431).
He loved his sports, especially baseball on TV, and his season over, it’s now time to pass the remote.
Benny was preceded in death by his older brother Gus Lingle, and sister Mary Jane Hanousek, and by his beloved daughter Robin in 2007.
He is survived by Bea, his wife of 48 years; younger brother Bob of Midpines, Calif.; sons Mike (and Sylvia) O’Daniel, and John (and Janet) O’Daniel of Skagway; daughters Kathleen (and Bob Deitrick) O’Daniel of Juneau, and Dorothy (and Jeff) Brady of Skagway; 16 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren; many, many nieces, nephews and cousins; and the entire Skagway Hardware and Skagway Air extended family.
At his request, there was no memorial service. The community gathered at the traditional egg nog on Christmas Eve at the Hardware, where they viewed more than 100 family photos and shared more memories about Benny.
??Lou Caposey
Nov. 1928 – Sept. 2009
Our dear father, husband, brother, and friend, Lou Caposey died peacefully Sunday, Sept. 13th in New Port Richey, Florida. Lou was diagnosed with lung cancer last December and sought treatment in Florida.
Lou was born on Nov. 8, 1928 in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. He married his beautiful wife of 59 years, Noreen, on July 29, 1950. Lou is survived by his wife Noreen, daughters, Eileen (Henry) and Denise Caposey; sons Bob, Jim and John Caposey; eight grandchildren; and five great grandchildren; his brother Tony of Crete, IL and sister Dolly of Holiday, Florida. His eldest son Tom preceded him in death. Tom died of lung cancer last June.
Many of you will remember Lou from the old Prospector Restaurant. Or maybe you were lucky enough to have tasted one of his famous Italian sausage sandwiches, or had a plate of his spaghetti at a local feed. You may recall playing in a Bocce Ball game he officiated or tossed some horseshoes with him on the 4th of July.
He and Noreen were seasonal here in Skagway until a few winters ago when they became year round residents. Lou never did like the cold though, and couldn’t wait to get down where he could wear cut offs all day and go fishing. Lou lived his life with intense passion for family and friends. He was opinionated and spoke his mind. His home was always lively, welcoming, and warm.
Lou, we will miss you. Love ya man!
Jackie Budd
June 1920 – June 2009
Former long-time resident, Jacquelyn (Jackie) Budd, 89, passed away June 29 in Kirkland, WA. She was born June 9, 1920 in Spokane. At age five she moved with her family to the Seattle area. She graduated Bainbridge Island High. In 1942 she married Gail L Budd and moved to Skagway where he had lived since 1934. The Budds retired in 1975 to their home on Kitsap Penninsula, WA. After Gail passed away in 1999, Jackie lived in Poulsbo, Edmonds and Kirkland. While in the North, the Budds had also spent five years in Whitehorse, Yukon.
The Budds were very active in local organizations. Jackie especially enjoyed singing and acting, performing with the Whitehorse Drama Club, the Elks and Emblem Clubs of Skagway, and also in the Days of '98 Shows, often portraying the Lady Known as Lou, in the "Shooting of Dan McGrew." Her civic activities included membership on the school board and serving several years as city clerk. She was last employed as an executive secretary for the WP&YR.
The Budds' two daughters Sharon Budd (Mount Vernon, Wa) and Patti Sele-Brockman (Kirkland, Wa) were both born and raised in Skagway. Her other survivors include her brother Dick Cain and family of Edmonds; grandson John Barry, Boston, MA; granddaughters Shannon Quinn and family, Indianapolis, IN; Jackie Phillips and family, Oxford, England, and Jennifer Weiss, Barcelona, Spain.
Jackie was well-loved by her family and many friends wherever she lived. All admired her musical talents and especially her sense of humor and warm and positive personality. She is greatly missed.
Ivadell Deane Rapuzzi
June 1923 - April 2009
Our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend passed on to eternal life with the lord on April 22, 2009, in Fairbanks, Alaska. She was 85.
Ivadell was born to Harry and Gertrude Oliver in Seattle, Washington on June 7, 1923.
She graduated from West Seattle High School in 1941. After graduation she attended business school and was employed as a secretary in a Seattle business office. She was an active member and volunteer of the USO during World War II.
Ivadell met her future husband, “Bob”, Robert Lee Rapuzzi while ice skating in Seattle. He literally “knocked her off her feet.” When he helped her up off the ice, their courtship began. They were married on January 19, 1952. They lived in Skagway and also kept a home in Bellevue, Washington.
Ivadell and Bob raised two children: a son, Rick Lee, and a daughter, Dellalee Deane.
After the children were raised, Ivadell worked summers at Keller’s Jewlery and Curio store in Skagway. Her expertise was the gold nugget jewelry counter, where she enjoyed selling gold nugget jewelry to the many tourists passing through Skagway. She retired from Keller’s in 2005 after almost 30 years.
Ivadell and Bob became snowbirds in their later years. They kept a winter home in Green Valley, Arizona.
Ivadell was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, where she sang in the choir. She also worked many years on the local election board. She was an active longtime member of Naomi Chapter #9 Order of the Eastern Star. She took great pride in helping to organize the annual Eastern Star Flower Show, where she would display her many beautiful roses and show her doll collection.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Harry and Gertrude Oliver, her infant sister, and her husband of 51 years, Bob Rapuzzi.
Ivadell is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Rick Lee and Laurie Rapuzzi of Eagle River; daughter Dellalee Deane Kalberg of Fairbanks. Grandchildren, Ryan and Monique Rapuzzi of Anchorage, Teresa and Carl Richardson of Eagle River, Cory Rapuzzi of Eagle River, Tifiny Kalberg of Anchorage, and John Kalberg Jr. of Las Vegas; and great-granddaughters, Elise Rapuzzi and Riley Richardson.
A memorial service will be held in Skagway at First Presbyterian Church, at 1 p.m. on June 20, 2009. A celebration of Ivadell’s life will be hosted at Skagway Elks Lodge No. 431 at 5 p.m.
Ivadell supported many charities throughout her lifetime. In lieu of flowers please make a donaton to your favorite charity in her memory.
Ivadells’s family would like to thank everyone for your cards, prayers, flowers and support, during these sadest of days.
When the days are sad and lonely,
And everything goes wrong
We seem to hear you whisper,
“Cheer up and carry on.”
Everytime we see your picture,
You smile and seem to say,
“Don’t cry I’m only sleeping,
we’ll meet again someday.”
It broke our hearts to lose you,
But you didn’t go alone.
A part of us went with you
The day God Took you home.
