Elizabeth Scheall

Trapper Creek resident Elizabeth “Eddie-Girl” Scheall, 56, died March 6, 2008, at St. Elias Specialty Hospital in Anchorage after a lengthy illness. A celebration of her life was held March 15 at Cache Creek Lodge. Chuck Smeltzer officiated.

Scheall was born May 24, 1951, in Castine, Maine, to Velma and Ernest Hutchinson. She came to Alaska with her mother and stepfather when she was 18 and fell in love with the state. She made it her home for many years off and on, living the better part of her life in Seward.

She worked several different bartending jobs, which led her to her husband, Joe Schaell. That’s when her adventures truly began. Her travels led her to many different states, finally ending up in Trapper Creek, where she started the first free newsletter there called “Up The Creek News.”

Her family wrote she “loved to cook and feed everybody. You could always go to her house and grocery shop. She cooked and delivered food to people until her own illness wouldn’t allow. Her motto was ‘I’ve life every day like it is your last or until the money and credit cards run out.’”

Scheall is survived by her husband of 20 years, Joe Scheall; daughters Shannon (Ryan) Benson and Christina (Jeff) Garcia; grandchildren Jacob, Ka’la, Hayle, Kyle, Allison, Faith, Morgan, Lana and Lexi; former son-in-law Jason (Lisa) Mann; stepson  Brandon (Jamie) Allpress; brother-in-law Andy Schaell; sisters-in-law Tomi Mann, Wendy Lacroix and Nelli Fox; adopted brother Dave (Jill) Lorenzen; niece Cindy Murphy; aunts and uncles Margie and Marlie Richardson and Merna and Fred Hutchison; special cousins Arlene and Norma Joyce, Alice and Richard Spencer, David Hutchinson, Melvin and Janet Hutchinson; and all her friends.

She was preceded in death by her mother Velma Lister; grandmother Gladys Leo; stepfather David Lister; and mother-in-law Gyna Scheall. In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to the Heart and Lung Association or the charity of one’s choice.