Elizabeth Ruth Schointuch

Elizabeth Schointuch passed away June 2 at a hospice center in Daytona Beach,

Fla. She fought ovarian cancer since it was discovered in November of 2007. After a major surgery she continued to enjoy life as much as possible even as she participated in several experimental treatments and studies at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.

She was an avid horsewoman and a friend to animals. During her life she especially enjoyed visits to whatever beaches were nearby. She was musically and artistically creative and also a collector of many and various art and craft items. She and her husband

Richard aspired to operate a stained-glass studio and shop in Daytona Beach.

Elizabeth was born in Tampa, Fla., on Sept. 20, 1958, but spent her childhood in Kansas, Missouri, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Her parents were both Rhode Island born, from Norwood and Cranston. She was a 1976 graduate of Warwick Veterans

Memorial High School in Rhode Island and worked in Rhode Island for several years.

She joined the military, first the Army National Guard and then the Air Force Reserves. She continued as a Reservist through moves to

Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Alaska, Oregon and Montana, where she retired in 1999.

Her reservist time included serving as a loadmaster on C-5 cargo jets, during Operation Desert Storm and later as a radiological

technician. She also worked as a radiological technician in private practices in Fairbanks and Wasilla. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in business from Concordia University in Portland, Ore., in 2001. She later returned to Alaska in 2002.

Elizabeth is survived by her husband, Richard Schointuch of Daytona Beach, her step-daughter Crystal Kugler of Fairbanks, her brother, Richard Weinhold of Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, her aunt, Marian Swanson of Barrington, Rhode Island, and former husband, Stephen Hill, of Deadhorse. 

Her memorial service and celebration of life will be held August 23, in Wasilla. Please call Richard Schointuch at 386-316-2185 for further information. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to the Alaska Humane Society.