Alaska School Yearbooks by County
George Danner Jr.
Lifetime Juneau resident George Danner Jr., 89, died Monday, Dec. 27, 2004, at Bartlett Regional Hospital.
He was born in Juneau on Dec. 28, 1914, to Rosa and George Danner, who immigrated from Kirschean, Germany, near Munich. His only sister, Rosa, was born in 1915. He grew up helping tend the cows and deliver milk with his parents and his sister on the family dairy. He attended St. Ann's School and graduated from Juneau High School in 1934 in a class of 28 students. He visited his grandmother in Germany in 1925 for the summer and came back speaking German so well he felt like he had to learn English all over. He attended the University of Washington to study architecture and joined the ROTC.
He married Mabel Louise Nelson (Mabes), a co-worker from Las Vegas, N.M., in December of 1941. He returned to Juneau after the war and worked for Juneau Dairies until it closed. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service in drafting and map-making from the 1950s until the mid-1970s.
He enjoyed taking his kids and other family friends boating, fishing and camping.
He returned to his grandmother's house in Germany in 1999 to visit the cousins who live there now. He fished in every Golden North Salmon Derby except the year of his heart attack, when he had to sit out on the docks while Mabes took in fish for the cause. In 2004, he was the King of the Pioneers and won the honor of oldest fishermen in the Salmon Derby.
He participated in Lion's Club and Boy Scouting for years. He helped document Juneau's past with members of the Gastineau Channel Historical Society.
His family says, "George was a thoughtful friend, a loving father and grandfather, and a kind human being and will be remembered fondly as time goes by."
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mabes, who died in 1988.
He is survived by his daughter, Linnus; his son George (aka Tracy); five grandchildren, Ryan McPherson Danner, Jamie Grace Barlow, Robyn Barlow, Jim Danner and Lisa Flores; and two great-grandchildren, Dominic Flores and Sara Grace Danner.
He will be interned in a private ceremony. The family would like to invite any interested members of the community to attend a memorial and celebration of his life at 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 31, 2004, in the Treadwell Room at Baranof Hotel. Lunch will be provided.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Bartlett Regional Hospital Foundation at 3230 Hospital Drive, Juneau, AK 99801.
James Elmer Willman
Former Juneau resident James Elmer Willman, 80, died Dec. 24, 2004, in Kelso, Wash.
He was born on April 18, 1924, in Saskatchewan, Canada, to George and Isabelle Willman.
He married Margaret Hanson on Sept. 25, 1948, and he and his family arrived in Alaska in 1957. They lived in Hollis on Prince of Wales Island, then lived in Juneau and Skagway from 1959 to 1962 and settled in Juneau from 1965 through 2001. He served in the United States Army and was retired from the State of Alaska and the Operating Engineers.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Margaret; his children, James, Jeanine and Steven; his brothers, Roy, Art, George, Louie and Dwain; and his sisters, Wilma, LillyBelle and Elsie.
He is survived by his wife, Zosima Willman; his daughters, Kathleen (Jim) Wakefield, and Teresa (Tom) Narvaez; grandchildren, Jess and Zachary Wakefield and Tom, Marcus and Veronica Narvaez, all of Juneau; sisters, Myrtle Mies of Kelso, Irene Mathison of Castle Rock, Wash., and Mary Carson of Sterling, Mich.; brother, Glenn Willman of Kelso; and numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held on Jan. 9, 2005, in Kelso.
Jessie Leta Estes
Former Juneau resident Jessie Leta Estes, 88, died Dec. 18, 2004, in Seattle, Wash.
She was born in Baca County, Colo., on May 1, 1916, to Vivian Floyd Hecox and Cloe Akers Hecox. She was one of three children.
She arrived in Juneau in October 1949 with her Coast Guard husband, John Estes, when he helped establish the Coast Guard's 17th District offices. She worked for Sears in Juneau, before being transferred to the Seattle Sears offices in 1968. She retired from Sears in the early 1980s.
While living in Juneau, she was an avid bowler and participated in many local, state and national bowling tournaments. She liked big band music, Christmas, working crossword puzzles, and going for drives in the country. She enjoyed gardening, indoor plants, cooking, reading and traveling. She looked forward to weekly luncheons "with the girls" when she and her women friends went to a different Seattle restaurant each Wednesday, her family said.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John, in 1962; her parents; and brother, Milton Hecox.
She is survived by her sons, Jim (Sharon) Estes and John (Ailene) Estes, all of Douglas; brother, Floyd (Vi) Hecox and their eight children, all of the Seattle area; sister-in-law, Virginia Hecox of Green Acres, Wash.; grandchildren, Charlie of Juneau, Mike (Kristi) of Lahaina, Hawaii, Tom (Mischelle Douglas) of Springfield, Ore., Jennifer of Phoenix, Ariz., and Lynn (Donna) Ewing of Petersburg; great-grandchildren, Paul, John and David of Springfield, Ore., and Sonja Ewing of Petersburg.
Services were held Dec. 22 in Seattle. Interment is at Washelli Columbarium in Seattle.
Memorials may be sent in her memory to: Evergreen Hospice, 12822 124th Lane N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034.
Will L. Riggen
Former Juneau resident Will Riggen, 78, died Jan. 1, 2005, of multiple myeloma.
He was born April 1, 1927, and raised in Spokane, Wash. After graduating from Rogers High School in December 1944, he served in the Navy as an electrician until the end of World War II. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Washington State University and completed two years of doctoral studies at the University of Oregon. He met his wife, Jennie (also a teacher), while teaching music in Wilbur, Wash. He taught and served as principal in the Washington communities of Farmington, Anatone, Prescott, and Glenwood.
In 1966, the family moved to Ketchikan, where he served as assistant superintendent of the school district for eight years. The family next moved to Juneau where he served in the same capacity. He also served as superintendent of the Yukon Flats, McGrath and Kake school districts. Will and Jennie returned to Washington in 1986, and he served as school principal in Endicott before retiring and returning to Spokane.
Throughout his life, he demonstrated his love and support of music, singing in barbershop quartets and serving as choir director and community symphony director in several communities. He also enjoyed woodworking, home remodeling, computers and electronics. His family says, "He will be sorely missed."
He is survived by his beloved wife of 53 years, Jennie; daughters, Kit McLaughlin of Portland, Ore., (sons Shaun and Brendan), Anne Colella, of Prescott, Ariz., (husband Frank, sons Tony, Dominic, and Alexander), Mary Riggen-Ver, of Juneau, (husband Joe, children Aaron, Lydia, and Anastasia), and Nancy Shields, of Spokane Valley, Wash., (sons Benjamin and Nicholas); and his sister, June Klump.
A private service to honor Will's life was held on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2005. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Spokane Valley office of Cancer Care Northwest.
Mae Ellen (Haube) Singer
Juneau resident Mae Ellen (Haube) Singer, 37, died Jan. 12, 2005.
She was born Feb. 21, 1968, in Petersburg. She graduated from Petersburg High School in 1986. She attended Seward Technical Vocational Training, as well as attending welding and culinary arts school in Seattle. Her primary job was as a cook, but she also worked various other jobs in Alaska, including the seafood industry. She was an active P.C.C. representative in Juneau. She also belonged to the Eagle, Killer Whale Tribe of Juneau.
Her family and friends said, "She enjoyed making people smile and laugh. Mae also liked to play jokes on family members and friends. She also considered her cooking more enjoyable than a chore or a job." Her favorite pastimes included spending time with her children, family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Curtis Singer of Billings, Mont.; her maternal grandparents, Robert and Nellie Hanson of Hoonah; Kelly James of Kake; Albert Hanson of Hoonah; Margaret Sterling of Petersburg; Ivy Berkley of Petersburg; Max and Rose Haube of Petersburg; Fred Yatchmenoff of Petersburg; and cousins, Russell James, Jr., of Kake, Yvonne (Hanson) Earl of Hoonah, and Lillian Hanson of Juneau.
She is survived by her sons, Curtis and Paul of Billings, Mont.; daughter, Taylor Singer, of Billings; mother, Bernice W. Johnson of Hoonah; her father, Arnold J. Haube of Petersburg; her sisters, Arlene Marks of Lawrence, Kan., Anita Haube of Anchorage, Ivy Haube and Carol Haube of Juneau, and Margaret Haube of Hoonah; adoptive brother, Chris LaVallee; brother-in-law, Joel Charles of Juneau; grandparents, Tommy and Maggie Jimmie of Juneau and Betty James of Kake; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.
Honorary pallbearers are Pat Mills, Norman Smith, Walter Smith, Owen James, Tommy Jimmy and George Mayeda. Pallbearers are Christopher LaVallee, Calvin Weimer, Dean Henderson, Ron Cropley, Jim Jackson, Michael James and Tim James.
A memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. Jan. 19, 2005, at the Tlingit and Haida Community Center on Hospital Drive. Donations can be sent to help the family at 4056 Granite St., Juneau, AK 99803. A very special thanks to those who have already sent donations.
