Beulah Mary Colborn

Big Lake resident Beulah Mary Colborn died peacefully July 15, 2007, at Colony Manor in Palmer. She was 86.

Born March 22, 1921, in Fresno, Calif., Colborn traveled to Alaska with her family in 1942 to reside in Ketchikan. Shortly thereafter the family moved to Anchorage and Government Hill.

Colborn worked for National Bank of Alaska for several years, and began the homesteading process in Big Lake in the 1950s.

Living in a wall tent, she and her husband built a small mill, created a two-story log home and ran a service station for the local airstrip community.

Working mostly alone, Colborn preserved and subsisted in gardening and hunting.

She loved birds, oil painting, archaeology and anthropology.

In addition to homeschooling her own children, she was instrumental in developing the first Quonset hut school in 1960.

She loved the Alaska land and continued to collect pieces of this love in Chulitna and Willow. She was highly self-educated, and a pioneer woman with a mind of her own who was willing to share.

Colborn was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the American Legion Palmer Pioneers, the Moose Lodge and Senior Center.

Colborn is survived by her daughters Patricia Hjellen of Kotzebue, Sheri (Philip) Hill of Big Lake and Marie (Dennis) Van Gorder of Palmer; many grandchildren and great-grandchildren Tanice and Paul Myers and daughter Amelia of Everett, Wash., Michael Naumann of Big Lake, David and Daniela Hjellen and their children Christopher and Anabel of Indianapolis, Ind., Christopher Rehor of Christ Church, New Zealand, Carl and Curtis Slater, Kristain Van Gorder, Angelique, Ben and Neal Van Gorder; great-grandchildren Joey, Katie and Ryan Van Gorder, and Zoey and Maddison Haney, and soon-to-be Michael Slater.

Graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. July 25 at Angelus Memorial Park, 44 E. Klatt Road, Anchorage.

Elbert Thomas Pettijohn

Longtime Alaska resident Elbert Thomas Pettijohn passed away at his Wasilla home July 20, 2007. He was 82.

Pettijohn was born Nov. 22, 1924, and raised in Prescott, Wash.

In 1943, at the age of 18, he joined the U.S. Army and was later assigned to the Army Air Corp and became a B-26 pilot. In 1947, he married Ruby Johnson.

They moved to Alaska in 1950 after he hired on as a pilot with Alaska Airlines.

Pettijohn retired as a B-737 airline captain after 34 years. He also enjoyed flying F-86 Saber jets with the Alaska Air National Guard. Pettijohn came to Alaska to fly, hunt, fish and raise his family.

He was well known for his bush flying while taking friends and family hunting and fishing. In 1983, he was called to serve his church as the first Wasilla Alaska stake president, a position he held for eight years.

Pettijohn is survived by his wife, Nadene Pettijohn; sister Doris Sanders; children Navada Stambaugh, Tom Pettijohn, Pat Pettijohn, Mark Pettijohn, Nylah Jimenez, Lanse Pettijohn, Doris Kastner and Taffy Uscola; 32 grandchildren; and 22 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his first wife Ruby and twin daughters Ada and Robin.

A funeral service will be held at 4 p.m. today at the Wasilla Alaska Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 901 Bogard Road. His viewing will begin at 2:30 p.m.

Arrangements were with Valley Funeral Home and Crematory of Wasilla.

Wayne Richard Irion

Wasilla resident Wayne Richard Irion, 62, died June 10, 2007, at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Palmer from esophageal cancer.

Irion was born March 5, 1945, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and moved to California with his family at an early age. He attended high school in Carmichael, Calif., and received a B.A. in psychology and sociology from California State University - Sacramento.

Irion was employed as a civil service electrician and the Sacramento Army Depot from 1975 to 1981, when he was promoted and transferred to Ft. Richardson.

He worked as an instrument control technician at the Ft. Richardson Department of Public Works power plant until he retired in 2003, completing 32 years with the Civil Service.

Irion met his wife, Georgia, in California before transferring to Alaska.

They were married in 1981 and lived in Anchorage until 1989, when they purchased a home and settled in Wasilla. His wife of 26 years was at his side throughout his illness and with him when he died.

Known for his outsider art and caricatures, Irion's work was produced and exhibited throughout southcentral Alaska, as well as at locations Outside. He was a motorcycle enthusiast and expert rider. He logged many miles with his friends and wife, whom he taught to ride. He enjoyed gardening and was an avid reader, particularly of military topics and firearms history. Irion was a Boy Scout, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.

He was very proud to be a Life and Endowment member of the National Rifle Association.

Irion is survived by his wife Georgia; son Stephen Wayne (Christine) Irion of Sacramento; son David Murray (Barbara) Irion of Oakhurst, Calif.; brother George (Vicky) Irion of Honolulu; brother James (Linda) Irion of Sacramento; granddaughter Jane Irion of Oakhurst; two grandsons Jack and Connor Irion of Sacramento; and many other extended family members. He will be greatly missed.

He was preceded in death by his father, Delbert Wayne Irion and mother Dorothy Alma Irion.

Arrangements were with Valley Funeral Home and Crematory of Wasilla.