Alaska School Yearbooks by County
Carroll "Rex" Coffman
Former Juneau resident Carroll "Rex" Coffman died July 19, 1998, at his home in Deming, N.M. Services will be held Wednesday, in Deming.
Coffman was born April 7, 1913, in Okemah, Okla., to Garland and Alma Coffman. He left home when he was 17 to work in Chicago. He also worked in the El Centro Valley and Oakland, Calif., where in 1942 he met Elaine Lowe. They married the next year.
In 1944 they moved to Fairbanks, where Coffman owned a cab company. During their first eight years in Alaska, he also commercial fished in western Alaska. They moved to Richmond, Calif. in 1950, and returned to Alaska 10 years later, settling in Juneau. Here Coffman worked in construction and for the State of Alaska Division of Buildings until his retirement in 1972. The Coffmans bought a winter home in Deming, N.M. in 1976, and moved there permanently in 1989.
Coffman was an avid prospector, and was an active member of the Alaska Miners Association for many years. He was also a member of the Pioneers of Alaska. Until a stroke in 1989 left him unable to speak, his favorite part of every day was "calling upon his children or his friends and visiting with them. He had a great smile, and greeted everyone he met," a family member said.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Garland and Alma Coffman; his brother Woodrow Coffman; and his sister Elsie Keifer.
He is survived by his wife Elaine; son and daughter-in-law Leonard and Leora Coffman of New Mexico; daughters and sons-in-law, Dana and Bob LaTour of Juneau, and Karen and Jim Tanner of Washington; grandchildren Patrick Kane, Brad, Janelle and Grace LaTour, and Callie and Haley Tanner; sisters Oleta Pippen and Wanda Massey; brother Jack Coffman; and numerous nieces and nephews.
The family may be reached at RR 2, Box 912, Deming, NM 88030.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Mimbres Valley Hospice, 108 East Poplar, Deming, NM 88030, or to the charity of donor's choice.
Raymond George Johns
Longtime Juneau resident Raymond George Johns died June 26, 1998, in Otero, Colo. Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, at Evergreen Cemetery in Juneau.
Pauline Ann (Abbot) Sheakley
Hoonah resident Pauline Ann (Abbott) Sheakley died Aug. 19, 1998 at Mount Edgecumbe Hospital following a long illness. She was 59.
Sheakley was born Sept. 6, 1939, in Juneau to John and Edna Abbott Sr. She was born into the Ch'aak Kudi Hit, Eagle's Nest House, of the Kogwanton Clan, with the name Sawdu.oo.
Sheakley lived in Juneau, Sitka and Hoonah.
She enjoyed knitting and sewing. She was active in her Native culture, and was a member of the Hoonah Alaska Native Sisterhood. She was also a member of the Salvation Army.
She was a shareholder of Sealaska and Shee Atika Corporations.
Sheakley was preceded in death by her parents; sisters Josephine Abbott and Isabell Abbott; brother Theodore "Teddy" Abbott; uncle Thomas Fulton; and aunt Minnie Magboo.
Survivors include her stepmother Margaret Abbott of Sitka; brothers John Abbott Jr. and Doyle Abbott of Sitka and John Shodder; daughters Toisan Smith and Julianna Smith of Anchorage; sons John Smith III and Warren Shawn Sheakley of Hoonah; an aunt Nancy Moreno of Sitka; nine grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
The body was taken to Kaayash-ka Hit, the Mother Coho House, where it lay in state. Service was to be held in Hoonah.
Pallbearers will be Norman Smith, Gilbert Sam, Anthony Moreno, Thomas Moreno, Phil Nielsen, John Littlefield and Max Williams.
Honorary pallbearers will be Herman Davis, David Davis, Al Duncan, Willie Joseph, Fred Hope, Al Perkins and Chuck Miller.
Edith Purvis Shuler
Edith Purvis Shuler of Juneau died July 28, 1999 at her home in Juneau.
She was born Nov. 10, 1923 in Greenville, N.C. She was raised on a cotton and tobacco farm and later worked as an administrative assistant in the electronics industry in Santa Monica, Calif.
Services were held today at The Bridge program at Mountain View Senior Center. Her ashes will be spread where she caught a 58-pound salmon in Lynn Canal about four years ago, which was a very happy moment of her life.
Survivors include daughter Lynn Strauss and granddaughter Stephanie Strauss, both of Juneau.
Ethel Nayudu
Longtime Juneau resident and former Juneau-Douglas High School foreign language teacher Ethel Nayudu, Aug. 1, 1999 in Solano Beach, Calif. She was 72. Memorial donations are suggested to the Alzheimer's Association, Alaska Chapter, 3200 Hospital Drive, Juneau, AK 99801.
Robert Haag
Juneau resident Robert Haag, 82, died early this morning, April 28, 1999, at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau. A full obituary will follow. Friends may call the Alaskan Memorial Park and Mortuary at 789-0611 for more information.
Robert Hanson
Juneau resident Robert Hanson died April 23, 1999, at St. Ann's Care Center in Juneau.
He was born Jan. 13, 1912, in Hoonah to Mary and Louie Hanson. His Tlingit name was T'laangooshu. He was from Ku Tis't Hit, the Land Otter House, Raven Clan. He was a clan leader until his wife's health required him to move to Juneau, and his nephew, Bill Wilson Jr., assumed responsibility for the clan.
He lived in Tenakee as a young child and moved to Hoonah where he attended the territorial school. He was a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps. He was a lifetime fisherman in the Icy Straits, Inian Islands and Glacier Bay areas. He skippered the fishing vessels Freddie II and the Sonar, and owned the Barla.
He married Nellie James, a Killer Whale from Kake, at a young age and they raised their family in Hoonah. He was a lifetime member of ANB, Camp 12 of Hoonah, and was a Sealaska and Goldbelt shareholder.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife Nellie; children Evangaline Sharclane, Violet Mayeda and Robert Hanson, Jr.; sisters Elsie Wilson and Margaret Lindoff and his brothers Charles Jack, Sr., Edwin Lindoff, and Frank and Paul Williams, Jr.
He is survived by his son Albert Hanson, Sr., of Hoonah; daughters Bernice Johnson of Hoonah, Martha James and Virginia Monignok, both of Juneau; nephew Bill Wilson Jr.; nieces Emily Bezezekof, Starina Johnson, Nina Dick, Barbara Katasse and Harlena Sanders, and brother-in-law Kelly James of Kake. He leaves 39 grandchildren, 92 great-grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren.
Memorial services will be at 7 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, at Tlingit-Haida Community Center, and funeral services will be 1 p.m. Thursday at the Salvation Army church on Willoughby, with interment at the Alaska Memorial Park.
Pallbearers will be grandsons Benjamin Johnson, Lucas Johnson, Gerald Mayeda, Jonathon Mayeda, Aaron St. Clair, Jr., Lee Bagoyo, George Bell, Adam James, Robert Williams, Luis Hernandez and Charlie Shorty.
Honorary pallbearers include Sam Hanlon, Sr., John Howard, Sr., Charles Jack, Jr., Ernest Jack, James Jack, Sr., Ernest Hillman, Ozzie Sheakley and Kelly James.
