Dean and Mazie Bunker mark 7 decades of marriage

Dean and Mazie Bunker will celebrate 70 years of marriage on June 28.

The couple first met in Tompkins Center, Mich., while swimming in Mill Pond. While swimming there in 1939, Mazie stepped into a deep hole and started to drown. Dean, then 16, came to her rescue.

“She had a hold of me and there was no way she was letting go,” he said. “And she still hasn’t let go of me 70 years later.”

The Bunkers moved to Willow in 1960 to homestead and secured the school bus contract in 1962. They still provide busing for students attending schools in Willow, Su Valley, Talkeetna and Trapper Creek.

Since 1964, they have also been commercial fishermen and are looking forward to returning to the fish camp again this summer. Many friends and relatives have enjoyed Dean’s fresh smoked salmon that he loves to share with all.

The Bunkers have five children: Terry, Robert, Diana, Gloria and Phyllis. They have 15 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.