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John H. Ringen
1946-2007
John Harvey Ringen, 60, husband, father, son and friend to many, passed away on Thursday, February 15, 2007, at the VA Hospice Care Unit in Vancouver, WA.
He was born on October 31, 1946 in Prairie City, OR to the late Harvey D. Ringen and Nona Ringen. He attended elementary school in John Day, OR before moving to Canyonville, OR and graduated from Canyonville High School in 1964. John served in the US Navy. He was stationed on the USS Princeton out of Long Beach, CA, during the Vietnam War. On May 14, 1966 he was united in marriage to Jodi Fleck in Portland, OR.
After his tour of duty, John and Jodi moved to the Portland area, with a brief sojourn to Maui, HI (where he made a name for himself at Maui Community College designing and building the dolphin), until their daughters graduated from high school and began their lives. At that time they embarked on an adventure to Florence, OR and owning their own business. John owned and operated Buccaneer Manufacturing. They made many visits to Skagway, AK to visit family and made many friends there. He could be found spending a lot of his time at his favorite store, Skagway Hardware.
John had many passions in his life: His wife always came first. His daughters were his joy. His grandchildren gave him pride. He cherished his friends. He loved cars of all sorts. He never tired of talking about them. Sundays were spent watching the sports he loved: auto racing, golf, football, and baseball, all days were spent talking about them. His days were filled experiencing the joys in his life and enriching everyone around him with stories of those joys.
John was preceded in death by his father, Harvey Ringen. He is survived by his wife, Jodi Ringen, of Florence, OR; daughter and her husband Mia Marie and Clifford Hocking, and their daughters, Katie Lynn and Ryleigh Anne of Hillsboro, OR; daughter and her husband Tamera Ann and John Klupar and their children John Conor, Kelly James and Sydney Anne of Fall City, WA; daughter and her husband Cynthia Lynn and John O’Daniel and their daughters Kaylie Maryah and Hannah Marie of Skagway, AK; his mother, Nona Ringen of Roseburg, OR; his aunt Analee Kirkwood of Roseburg, OR; his brother and his wife, David Ringen and Pam Stern and their children of Portland, OR; his sister and her husband, Mia and Craig Hubert and their children of Grand Blanc, MI; his brother and his wife Jim and Alice Ringen and their children of Maple Grove, MN; many, many other family members.
A memorial service for John was held on Feb. 21 at John’s shop, Buccaneer Manufacturing, 5045 Hwy 101, Florence, OR, followed by a reception.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Cancer Research Unit at the VA Hospital in Portland, OR. We would like to thank Dr. Ian Schnadig, the nurses, especially in the ICU, and staff at the VA Hospital for the extraordinary care they provided to our father.
Mozelle Nalan
February 1992 – July 2011
Leap Year Day 1992, in Whitehorse, Yukon, Ken and Natasha Nalan were blessed with an adorable baby girl, Mozelle.
Mozelle became extremely ill and doctors did not expect her to survive an emergency surgery at 36-hours-old. God blessed Mozelle's family and they enjoyed her bright blue eyes and shining spirit for 19 years, 4 months and 17 days. We are striving to thank God for the precious years we had her instead of those we lost.
Mozelle spent her childhood years in Skagway. Many happy times were spent with her dog, Shelley. During summer she would hike to and camp at Upper Lake with Judy Selmer, and even hiked the Chilkoot Trail. Zell could write and sing wonderful songs. She loved skiing, swimming, rock climbing, zip lines but most of all playing with siblings. She attended horse camp at Heart-Bar Ranch first as a camper then as a counselor. Her Baha'I faith was important to her.
Mozelle was honored to attend NCCI in London, Ontario. Mozelle enjoyed her teachers and friends. She happily immersed herself in dance, music, and theater.
Mozelle then moved with her mother and siblings to the Seattle area in 2007 to be closer to the medical care she needed. During her treatments she would take time to visit teenage cancer patients during their chemo. Her love of horses led her to volunteer at Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Stable. She had hoped to make this her career. Sadly that desire to serve others was cut short when she was murdered while volunteering in Anchorage.
Please honor Mozelle's life of service by doing a good deed on Leap Year Day.
Mozelle is survived by her parents, beloved siblings Erik, Aurora and Layli, and 10 half brothers and sisters. We thank the community for their concern and support. Donations would be greatly appreciated through the Mozelle Nalan Memorial Fund at Key Bank Alaska to lay her body to rest. A celebration of life took place at the Anchorage Baha'I Center on Sunday July 24 for friends and family, followed by a potluck.
A Skagway remembrance service and celebration of Mozelle’s life will be held at Seven Pastures on Sunday, July 31 at 4 p.m.. There will be a half-hour ceremony officiated by local ministers, and then the celebration will begin. People are welcome to stop by, bring food and share memories of Mozelle. Please bring meat for the barbecue or other dishes. All are welcome, especially musicians with their instruments. Mozelle loved music.
The family especially thanks Samantha Welch and Brandy Mayo for their valued friendship. – Submitted by the family.
Jesse Lane
Jan. 1982 - July 2011
Former Skagway resident Jesse Lane, 29, of Rockford, Illinois, died Monday, July 4, 2011. He was born Jan. 9, 1982, in Juneau, Alaska, to Rocky and Debra (Evans) Lane. He married Angel West on Jan. 18, 2006, in Rockford. He worked for Reliable Machine Co., and enjoyed fishing and tattoos.
Lane is survived by wife, Angel; daughters, Hailey and Alexia Lane; son, Memphis Lane; mother, Debra Lane; and brother, Hunter Lane. He was predeceased by his father, Rocky Lane. A memorial service was held on Friday, July 8, at Honquest Family Funeral Homes with Crematory, Rockford Chapel. A celebration of life was held Saturday, July 9, at the Quamm residence. For details, please contact Hunter Lane.
Barbara D. Kalen
December 1924 – October 2011
Barbara Dedman Kalen was born curious. In fact, she called herself “the elephant’s child, because I am curious about everything.” That curiosity would take her across a spectrum of life interests, but she was rooted in Skagway, where she was loved by her family, community and people from around the world. She was one of those Skagway characters you will never forget.
Kalen died at her home on Oct. 11, 2011, listening to her favorite music. She was a couple months shy of her 87th birthday. Until her heart began to fail, she was the most active octogenarian, male or female, that this community has ever seen. She hiked, skied, swam, skated, and rode her bike well into her 80s, and then moved to a cart to get around and hit the local coffee shops.
This active life began on Dec. 10, 1924 in Skagway as the only child of Henry and Bessie Dedman. She spent her early childhood growing up in the family’s Golden North Hotel, which was run by her grandparents. She ate her meals there, which, by her own admission, spoiled her. She made the rounds with her grandmother Clara, watering plants and meeting travelers. Some would coax the young girl into games, but when the five-year-old lost money, she swore off gambling for the rest of her life. There were many other things that she tried and did well, including decorating her bike and riding it in the Fourth of July parade – a tradition she carried on until a couple years ago.
Her mother, Bessie, did not enjoy the hotel life. A lover of photography, she decided to start Dedman’s Photo Shop in 1923. The family lost the hotel in the depression, but the photo shop is now into its fifth generation as Skagway’s oldest family-owned business. Barb started by color-tinting postcards for her mom, receiving a nickel apiece, but she really learned the business as a teen during the World War Two years. Her mother had been called to Petersburg, so Barb was the one taking photos of the newly arrived GIs who came to town.
Barb would marry one of the soldiers, Ed Kalenkosky, who shortened his name to Kalen. She took him on hikes, including the old overgrown Chilkoot Trail in 1957, long before it was restored. And after they started a family, Barb took her four children everywhere.
“Please excuse my kids from school today, ” she would say. “They are needed at home.” And then she would take advantage of the perfect snowfall before the south wind turned it to slush and give her kids their own “snow day.”
“Thanks, Mom. You brought us up knowing that sometimes play had to be a priority over work, ” said her daughter, Betsy Albecker.
She relished a hike at any time of year and made sure all the kids became proficient with skates, skis, snowshoes, and oars, recalled her daughter, Barbie Kalen.
“In the summer, on a rare hot day, she’d drop everything to take herself and the kids swimming, ” wrote Barbie. “And when her kids were grown up she would enlist her friend and cohort, Bea Lingle.”
When Barbie came home from Fairbanks, they would go on long hikes in the hills. There were also excursions to the family homestead, Kal’s Landing, off the Dyea Road.
At home and at work, Barb was a woman who could do just about anything: replace a chimney, pour cement, make fences, sew leather jackets, make jam, wallpaper a home or business, and do upholstery. She even learned how to take care of the horse that her husband brought home for the kids.
Her passion was the arts. Her creative side was best seen in her painting, knitting and music. She painted landscapes and railroad scenes to supplement her income, knitted or crocheted sweaters and hats, played the trumpet and autoharp, and sang. Barb and Oscar Selmer were the trumpet section in the old Days of ’98 Show, and they also serenaded the ships.
Her autoharp took her to the Alaska Folk Festival each year, where she played in the band, “Skagway Beach Picnic.” A few years after starting the Skagway Arts Council with Barbara Moore in 1974, she coaxed a number of musicians from the festival into coming to Skagway and Whitehorse. That was the start of the International Mini Folk Festival, held every April for the past 25 years. As a long-time president of the arts council, she also brought many musical acts to Skagway and played with them. Most of the concerts were held at the acoustics-friendly Presbyterian Church, where she was a deacon and elder.
Barb was an avid reader, storyteller and writer. She chronicled town life with her camera and notebook, sending news reports to regional newspapers about Skagway for many years. She covered everything from snowbound trains to the building of the highway. Thousands of photos by her mom and herself now make up the Dedman Collection that was purchased by the Skagway Museum a few years ago.
She also did not shy away from politics. She spent a couple terms on the Skagway City Council and Historic District Commission, where she protected the town’s parks and its historical appearance. A lifelong Democrat, she was not bashful about sharing her viewpoints on issues such as the Juneau road, which she opposed, and various national conservation issues, which she supported. Everything she believed in or opposed was on her little car, which was plastered with bumper stickers. It has been said that those stickers kept the vehicle together.
As a life-long naturalist, Barb enjoyed gardening, berry picking, photographing wildflowers, and just walking in the woods. When visitors from Iceland came to Skagway in 1955 looking for species of pine that might grow on their barren island, Barb and Kal knew where to go. Lodge pole pines grew up from the rocks in Yakutatnia Point Park. The Icelanders took some lodge pole cones home, and they were able to grow trees from the Skagway seeds. Afterward, Barb was hired by a Washington seed company under contract with the Iceland Forest Service to gather up bushels of cones every fall and ship them south.
“We’d find and sack enough to fill 30 to 40 burlap bags, ” said Betsy. “Later we were sending both pine cones and fir cones.”
Barb hosted visitors from Iceland when they returned to Skagway. They treated her like a saint, and also hosted her twice in their country. Betsy accompanied her mom on one of the visits to see their success story. The cone shipments have declined in recent years, because the trees that started from Skagway cones are now big enough to produce their own seeds for harvest, and sustain an Icelandic forest.
She was honored for her “dedication to the arts and humanities and the preservation of Skagway’s scenic and historic resources” with a citation from the Alaska Legislature in 2007, which was presented to her in Skagway by former Governor Sarah Palin.
Barb was preceded in death by her husband, Ed Kalen, and son, Danny Kalen. She is survived by: a son, Patrick, of Fairbanks; daughters Barbie Kalen of Fairbanks, and Betsy Albecker of Skagway; grandchildren Mary, Carl, Averill, and Dale; and great-grandchildren Megan, Caden, Anna, Matthew, Danny, and Allison.
A memorial service will be held next June when the family gathers in Skagway.
Johanne ‘Jo’ Sandra Ask
March 1934 - February 2012
Born in Skagway March 14, 1934, daughter of Skagway merchant Harry G. Ask and Irma Williams Ask, Johanne passed away February 20, 2012, at 77 after a courageous battle with ovarian cancer. Jo relished the outdoors and fished, skied, snow shoed, biked, hiked, and boated throughout her life. After Harry moved his family south, Johanne played the saxophone at West Seattle High, (class of 1952). A strong swimmer, Jo was a lifeguard at Lake Chelan and a camp counselor at Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho.
When she graduated from Washington State University in 1956 (Tri-Delta Sorority and synchronized swim team), Jo embarked on her adventurous life. In Japan she climbed Mt. Fuji, her first of many successful climbs. She worked for the Army Special Services in Sendai and Tokyo, exploring India and SE Asia on her own before returning to the US. Johanne used her degree to teach fifth grade, her favorite group of students.
Johanne climbed Mt. Rainier in Washington, and charted a new direction in 1982, moving north to Juneau. Her adventures continued with two treks over the Chilkoot Trail (first pass accompanied by her 14-year-old son) and riding her bicycle the length of the Dempster Highway to Inuvik in the Canadian Arctic. Jo descended the Yukon River from Whitehorse to Dawson in a canoe. She built her own kayak, and was often seen paddling through the maritime beauty of Gastineau Channel. Jo loved attending Fireside, Audubon, Evenings at Egan, Mendenhall Glacier Visitor’s Center programs (where she often took her grandchildren), and Mt. Roberts Tramway Tlingit presentations.
A scout leader, Jo created a Girl Scout Camp Songs book and encouraged her son all the way to Eagle Scout. Shge was a Mmmber of Sons of Norway Svalbard Lodge, Resurrection Lutheran Church, Pioneers of Alaska Women’s Igloo #6, and Gastineau Channel Historical Society. Jo was honored by the National Ski Patrol with a special commendation for many years of dedicated service, most recently tending injuries in the first aid room at Eaglecrest Ski Area.
Jo traveled much of Alaska via the ferry system. She loved going to Evergreen and Skagway Cemeteries to honor deceased relatives, and had a tree planted on the road from the Skagway Ferry terminal to town in memory of her father.
Jo was quietly gratified by helping children and families while working for the State of Alaska. She loved collecting and reading Alaskan and Scandinavian history, literature, music and dance. Everyone enjoyed her sweet fun-loving nature, artistic creativity and love for all things Alaskan.
Johanne is survived by her brother Charles Ask (Leada); daughter Kristin Robertson (Graham); son Stefan Nelson (Olivia); grandsons Graham, Stefan and Anton; granddaughter Olivia Marie; cousins John Holmquist (Kathy) and Chris Roust (Gail); niece Karla Schultz, nephew Rick Ask, and a community of many friends who miss her.
A Celebration of Jo’s life will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 5 at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Juneau.
Kristin Jacquot
January 1947 - June 2012
Kristin Jacquot of Skagway passed away on June 23, 2012, with her family by her side in Anchorage, Alaska.
She was born January 7, 1947, in Seattle, Washington to Mark and Edith Lee. Her sister, Marcia, was born two years later. Her father was an engineer for White Pass. Her mother had a series of successful business ventures, from the Golden North Hotel to Lee's Chevron.
Kristin and Marcia spent the summers traipsing the trails around Skagway with a troop of girls led by their mother. She met and married Larry Jacquot in 1964. They had two children, Marla and Darryl. Larry worked as a conductor for White Pass and Yukon Route, and Kristin was a great mother and homemaker.
She went to work for the United States Post Office in 1970, where she worked for close to 20 years and where she touched so many people with her kindness and wit. Her last year at the “PO” was 1991. In 1995 Larry and Kristin became restaurateurs when they purchased Dee's Cafe. Kristin was the "Fry Goddess" for the next five years. Dee's was sold in 2000, and Kristin next became a "flagger, " partnering with her daughter Marla. In 2008, Larry and Kristin purchased a walnut farm in California. They built a nice little house and planted new walnut trees. Kristin loved to walk in her orchard.
Kristin is survived by her husband, Larry; by her sister and brother-in-law, Marcia and John Berry; daughter and son-in-law, Marla and Darren Belisle; grandsons, Rory, Cory, Colton, and Wyatt; and nieces Dana Goeke and Natalie Knorr.
Darryl Jacquot
May 1966 - June 2012
Darryl Jacquot passed away June 11, 2012, in Anchorage, Alaska.
He was born May 29, 1966, in Skagway, Alaska to Larry and Kristin Jacquot. Darry, as he was known growing up, liked to say that he was his Grandma Edie’s “Very Best Grandson” (but, he would forget to mention that he was the only boy!).
Darry graduated from the University of Idaho Law Program in 1992. He made his home in Anchorage, where his Skagway family would often come and stay with him. He had four nephews that he loved to impart his wisdom to. He had a great love for games and travel. He had traveled extensively both abroad and here in the United States. He greatly enjoyed playing cribbage with his beloved mother, and he would record "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy" for them to watch together, where they would try to out-answer each other.
Darry worked for the State of Alaska as a hearing officer for Workman’s Compensation for 17 years. He had some very good friends there, but in January of 2009 he decided it was time to do something new, so he went to work for Liberty Mutual. It was a very good move for him, and he was extremely satisfied working for Liberty. In October of 2011, he opened his home to his parents and his sister and her family, so that his mother could have her family with her as she bravely tried to battle stage-four esophageal cancer.
Darry is survived by his father, Larry; by his sister and brother-in-law, Marla and Darren Belisle; nephews, Rory, Cory, Colton, and Wyatt; Aunt and Uncle, Marcia and John Berry; and cousins Dana Goeke and Natalie Knorr.
Stimee Boggs
March 1973 - September 2012
Samuel John Leslie Boggs, (Stimee), age 39, died September 4, 2012, in his hometown of Skagway, Alaska.
Stimee was born March 4, 1973 in Greenville, SC to Lloyd and Mildred Lackey Boggs.
He left Greenville while in his early 20s for an adventure in Alaska. He fell in love with Alaska, called it home, and spent more than 20 years there enjoying every moment. He worked for the National Park Service and the U.S. Border Station in Skagway.
Stimee remained a true southern boy; he was gregarious and yet serious in nature. He was a no-nonsense, pragmatic hard-worker, a charmer when conditions dictated, quick as a cat when danger demanded action, and as honest as they come. He could accomplish anything he set his mind to do.
He is survived by two brothers and one sister, Bud Boggs of Pelzer, SC, Joe Boggs of Inman, SC, and Cindi Boggs Guthrie, also of Inman.
A memorial service was held in Skagway on Sunday, September 16 at the Elks lodge, followed immediately by a celebration of Stimee's life.
Cindy D. Herpst
February 1953 - August 2012
Cindy Darlene Herpst died on Wednesday, August 22, 2012 in Seattle, Washington at the age of 59. She was born Feb. 15, 1953 in Skagway to Duncan and Goldie Hukill. She graduated from Skagway High School and attended surgical nursing school in Seattle. She married Stan Herpst in Skagway in 1973. Cindy resided in Juneau for many years before moving to Washington.
Cindy was a free spirit. She lived life to its fullest and never met a stranger. She treated life like one long dance, always moving, exciting and loud. Cindy was a woman of all trades with many interests. She was a good friend who was spontaneous, charismatic and always had something to say.
She is survived by her children Hollie Rubin and husband Scott of Enumclaw, Wash., Shelley Cox of Snohomish, Wash., Rocky Herpst and wife Krystle of Vancouver, Wash., and Cody Herpst and wife Tiffany of Hillsboro, Ore.; and her sister Frances Rose and husband Carl of Juneau; and 8 grandchildren.
Cindy was preceded in death by her husband Stan Herpst and parents Duncan and Goldie Hukill.
A celebration of her life is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8 at Juanita Community Club, 13027 100th Ave. N.E. Kirkland, WA.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cindy Herpst Memorial Fund at any US Bank.
