Gene Albert Haverlandt

Longtime Wasilla resident Gene Albert Haverlandt, 63, died peacefully on March 13, 2010, surrounded by family in his Wasilla home.

Memorial services will be held at noon Saturday at the Valley Funeral Home Palmer Chapel, 2020 North Hemmer Road in Palmer. Chaplain Stuart Mitchell will officiate. Additional services will be held in Montana at a future date.

Gene was born Sept. 8, 1946, in Eureka, Mont., where he learned to fish, trap, hunt and work. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1963.

He married Linda and had three children — Daphne, Darcy and Deanna. From 1965 to 1974, they lived in and around Trego, Fortine, Deep Creek and Whitefish, Mont. He worked many professions; as a logger, a laborer for Burlington Northern and a construction worker of the Libby Dam in Montana. Gene moved to Alaska in 1974 first to Anchorage, then to Chugiak and finally to Wasilla in 1983, where he resided near his daughters until his passing. He worked construction in Alaska and as a contractor until 1986, when he began his most passionate job as a fabricator/designer/shop foreman at Plaschem in Anchorage.

He referred to himself as a “jack of all trades and master of some.” Gene’s hobbies included flying, fishing, camping, trapping, hunting, drawing, writing, cooking and making anything he could with fiberglass. He was passionate about storytelling and often shared stories about his youth. The family and its history was most important in his life. He also enjoyed country music and gospel and played the guitar, teaching his girls how to sing and enjoy music.

“Gene’s hearty laugh and generous nature will be missed. He was generous with his knowledge and would give the shirt off his back to a co-worker or employee who needed help. Even during some of his toughest financial times he would find a way to keep his employees afloat,” wrote the family.

Awaiting him in Heaven is his wife of 25 years, Linda W. Herron-Haverlandt, who passed away in 1990; father, Louis John Haverlandt Sr.; mother, Thelma Ruth Haverlandt; brother, Joe Neil Haverlandt; as well as many other aunts, uncles and friends he held very dear to him.

He leaves behind a multitude of family and friends including, but not limited to, daughters and sons in-law, Daphne and Greg Gurley of Chugiak, Darcy and Tim Schachle of Wasilla, and Deanna and Scott Humphreys of Wasilla; grandchildren, Chelsea and Tyler Gurley, Timothy, Jaclyne and James Schachle, Alyssa and Alex Humphreys all of Alaska; brother, Louis John Haverlandt Jr. of Colorado; sister and brother in-law, Ginger and Ed St. Onge of Montana; dear nieces and nephews, Jay, Kelly, Kathy St. Onge, Suzie, Charie and Diane McDonald, Tehila, Onawa and Neil Haverlandt, Beau Hanson, and Tangie, Treena and Tricia Dickinson.

Arrangements were by Valley Funeral Home & Crematory.