Alaska School Yearbooks by County
Robert Horton
Former Juneau resident Robert William Horton, of Port Orchard, Wash., died Jan. 9, 2010, at Bremerton Naval Hospital. He was 59.
Born Nov. 1, 1950, to William and Martha Horton Sr., he served in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam, achieving rank of engineman third class prior to being medically retired due to service related illness. He was stationed on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. John Hancock.
He was a commercial fisherman with his father and worked alongside him at Red Sam construction.
He enjoyed computers as well as gardening, fishing and hunting. He resided at Retsil veterans home for a few years. He was a double amputee, who truly enjoyed the independence his prosthetic provided him. One of the happiest moments was getting his second prosthetic leg in order to gain his independence. He recently moved out on his own again and he achieved that.
He is survived by his parents, William and Martha Horton Sr.; sisters, Patricia Brandt and husband, Jan, Laverne Stone and husband, Joel, Elizabeth Waters, Doris Kindred and husband, Bruce, and Bertha Horton; brothers, William Horton Jr., Gary Horton, Rick Horton and wife, Bonnie, Jeff Horton and Allan Horton; and many numerous nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life was celebrated on Jan. 18 at Retsil veterans home. The memorial was on Jan. 19 at Rills Life Tribute Center in Port Orchard.
He was buried with full military honors on Jan. 20 at Retsil Veteran Cemetery. TAPS was performed by his nephew James Brandt, of the U.S. Navy, who is the son of Jan Brandt and Patricia Horton-Brandt, of Coos Bay, Ore.
Miles Murphy Jr.
Longtime Hoonah resident Miles Nicholas Murphy Jr. died Feb. 7, 2010, in Anchorage. He was 76.
He was born Aug. 30, 1933, in Juneau. He was a Raven/ T'ak dein taan from the Head house. His Tlingit name was Gulxaa (Johnny James' namesake).
He graduated from Mount Edgecumbe High School in 1954 and soon after joined the U.S. Army, where he served through May 10, 1957.
In his early years, he was a commercial fisherman, worked with Tlingit and Haida Electrical, BIA Roads and served as mayor of Hoonah from 1975 to 1987.
In his final years, he was an avid reader. His family said Miles could always be spotted a a restaurant in early morning, drinking coffee and socializing. He always had a book in hand, if he was not out walking his dogs.
He enjoyed fishing. He was a member of the Lions Club, American Legion, Alaska Native Brotherhood and Hoonah Indian Association, and was a Huna Totem Corp. and Sealaska shareholder.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth "Betty" Murphy; parents, Assunta Hill and Miles Murphy Sr., of Juneau.
He is survived by his children: Miles, Twila and Myron Murphy, of Hoonah, and Kathleen Parks and Renae McLean, of Juneau; step-children, Chris Sumdum, Janice Bennett and Charlene Austin; brothers, Paul Rudolph, Royal Hill Sr., Vernon Hill, Byron Rudolph, Alessandro Hill and Raino Hill, all of Hoonah, Alvin Rudolph, of Wasilla, Barry Smith, of Juneau, and Wally and John Harris, of Anchorage; sisters, Pauline Andersson, of Swedan, Myra Dore, of Tacoma, Wash., Tina Martin, of Hoonah, and Evelyn Hatmaker, Lina Edwards and Mary Stuart, of Juneau. He also enjoyed spending time with his 17 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers are Royal Hill Jr., Tauno Hill, Alessandro Hill, Trevor Hill, Cory Hill, Brandon and Walter Hill. Honorary pallbearers are Ernie Hillman, George Martin, Bill Cook Jr., Frank White, Roger Door and Sven Andersson.
A service will be held at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, at Chapel by the Lake. Cards and donations can be mailed to Renee McLean, 4446 Trafalgar Ave., Juneau, AK 99801.
John Joseph Conley Jr.
Ketchikan resident John Joseph "JC" Conley Jr. died Jan. 31, 2010, in Juneau. He was 55.
Born Oct. 7, 1954, in Riverside, Calif., he was from a military family and spent the majority of his childhood living in Puerto Rico and Germany. He moved to Ketchikan in 1975 and worked as a chef at the Fireside Supper Club and Lounge. He started working for Boyer Towing in the late-1970s.
After the birth of his first son, Sean, he decided he needed to stay closer to home and family and started working at Service Auto Parts. He was the manager for several years and later went on to be the owner of both the Ketchikan and Craig stores. He loved to cook and work in the garden.
He served three terms on the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly, and as vice-mayor of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough. He also served twice as chair of the Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce.
He is better known by some as "Mr. Southeast Conference." A Southeast Conference board member since 1989, he served twice as president and had planned to serve a third term as president in 2010. In that capacity, he volunteered a tremendous amount of his valuable time and business expertise to coordinate the efforts of Southeast Alaska's business and civic leaders in growing the economy of the region.
As president, he doubled the membership of the organization and tripled event attendance. During his tenure, he expanded the focus of the organization to include the electric intertie and fisheries. Despite the budget limitations of the small nonprofit, he found funding for an energy coordinator. He also increased the organization's existing focus on transportation, tourism and economic development.
In 2002, due to his great service to the region, he was appointed by Gov. Frank Murkowski to serve as vice-chair on the Alaska Marine Transportation Advisory Board. Ultimately, he went on to serve as the chair. He represented the southern part of Southeast Alaska, a seat he still holds.
In 2006, Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Commissioner Mike Barton asked him to chair an intertie steering workgroup tasked with considering the feasibility of exporting Alaska hydroelectric power to the British Columbia power grid.
He was preceded in death by his father, John Joseph Conley Sr.
He is survived by his sons, Sean Conley and wife, Ashley Skidmore, and their daughter, Tristan, of Ketchikan, Nicholas Conley, of Wisconsin Dells, Wis.; girlfriend, Jodi Mitchell, of Juneau; mother, Virginia Conley, of Lakewood, Wash.; brothers, Patrick Conley, of Virginia, and Michael Conley and his children, Andrew and Paige, of Lakewood, Wash.; sisters, Mary Field and husband, Lee, and their daughter, Sarah, of Gig Harbor, Wash., Jennifer Conley and her son, Lauren, of Lakewood; former spouse, Dena Minicucci, of Ketchikan; and numerous nephews and cousins.
A celebration of life will be held from 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Ted Ferry Civic Center.
Phil Harris
ANCHORAGE - Phil Harris, the fishing boat captain whose adventures off the Alaska coast were captured on the television show "Deadliest Catch", has died, the Discovery Channel said Tuesday night. He was 53.
Harris suffered what his family described as a massive stroke on Jan. 29 while the fishing vessel he captained, Cornelia Marie, was in port at St. Paul Island, Alaska. The fisherman was flown to Anchorage for surgery.
The reality show, which has filmed five seasons, has been one of the Discovery Channel's most popular and depicts the crab fishing industry in the dangerous waters off Alaska.
"It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad - Captain Phil Harris. Dad has always been a fighter and continued to be until the end," sons Josh and Jake Harris said in a statement released by the network. "For us and the crew, he was someone who never backed down."
In a statement, Discovery Channel senior vice president Elizabeth Hillman says, "Phil was a devoted father and loyal friend to all who knew him."
"We will miss his straightforward honesty, wicked sense of humor and enormous heart," she said.
In an e-mail to The Associated Press, she said no additional information was immediately available Tuesday night.
Harris had seemed to be improving, and in a posting last Saturday on the ship's Web site, he was described as "talking to friends and family today; showing his greatest progress" since the stroke.
His sons wrote in a Feb. 3 posting that "No one ever said Captain Phil Harris wasn't tough. Today, dad showed some good signs of improvement, squeezing our hands and even summoning his trademark Captain's bluntness ... We are encouraged but still very cautious."
According to the ship's Web site, Harris started working on fishing boats at age 7 and started work 10 years later on a crab boat. When Harris turned 21, he ran a fishing vessel out of Seattle, making him one of the youngest to captain a vessel in the Bering Sea.
Harris' fishing vessel was based in Seattle.
Patricia A. Collier
Juneau resident Patricia A. Collier died Jan. 31, 2010, at home. Funeral services will be announced at a later date.
