EINO KUOPPALA

Eino Leonard Kuoppala, 91, died Oct. 9, 2008 at his home in Palmer.

Kuoppala was born the second of eight children to Leonard and Jena Larson Kuoppala on Jan. 31, 1917 in Calumet, Mich.

Kuoppala took a mining job in Montana at the age of 20 and continued working similar jobs until the outbreak of World War II. In 1942 he spent three months in basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He was then transferred to the Eska underground coal mine in Alaska in 1943.

In 1946 he was honorably discharged and returned to Butte, Mont., where he met with his four brothers who had also been drafted and returned from war.

Kuoppala and one of his brothers returned to Alaska that summer in 1946 to begin working in the Jonesville Mine.

Since then he was a resident of the Mat-Su Valley. He also spent a winter in Prudhoe Bay and Candle Gold from 1969 to 1976.

Kuoppala enjoyed and spent a lot of time hunting, fishing and setting out traps.

His family states, “He loved everybody and was loved by all. His home in Sutton was always left open so all the kids in the neighborhood could come over to play pool. If anyone needed anything he was always willing to help. He always saw the best in everybody. He never knew a stranger, only friends.”

Visitation will be 11 a.m. to noon today, Friday, Oct. 17 at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Palmer, with a service at noon followed by a potluck. Burial will be at the Palmer Pioneer Cemetery with full military honors at 2:30 p.m.

Pallbearers include Jim Shaginoff, John Corey, Tim Boyle, Sam Hermon, Bob Boyle, Kent Sandvik and the Ft. Richardson Honor Guard.

Kuoppala is survived by his wife, Margaret Rissi, of Palmer; daughter Judy and husband, Frank Towell, of Battle Ground, Wash.; stepdaughter Linda and husband, Gregory Hall, of Wasilla; grandchildren James Sandvik, Brenda Psenak, Tiffany Bell, Brittany Bell, Caleb Hall and Isaiah Hall; great-grandchildren Jamie Psenak, Mark Psenak and Meranda Psenak; sister Nancy and husband, Gene Swansen, of Independence, Mo.; and brothers Roger and wife, Lillian, Kuoppala of Fullerton, Calif., and Wayne Kuoppala of Wichita, Kan.

Arrangements are with Kehl’s Palmer Mortuary.