George L. Coon

George L. Coon, 79, died April 25, 2012, from kidney failure at his home in Meadow Lakes.

A potluck celebration in remembrance of George is at noon, June 2 at Mile 48.5, Parks Highway. Turn left on Blondell at the Murphy’s Auto sign, turn right on Trevett Avenue and the house will be the first on the right. For more information, call 357-3640.

George was born Aug. 8, 1932, in Wichita, Kan.

He spent time in Cordova, then moved to the Lower 48 and returned to Alaska in 1974. He married his wife of 37 years, Deborah Coon, in their home in Eagle River.

He was a master mechanic. There was nothing George couldn’t fix or repair. When he came back to Alaska, he joined the Teamsters and International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302. He went to work for Weaver Brothers, became the night shop foreman and later bought his own truck and hauled dynamite to Prudhoe Bay as an independent trucker.

In 1976, he lost his right leg to a truck wreck. So, along with his wife, they purchased the King Mountain Service Station at Mile 75 of the Glenn Highway. They built a store and renamed it Chickaloon General Store and Services. Here he did repairs and ran a wrecker. They sold the store in 1982.

In 1996, he came down with congestive heart failure and was recommended by his cardiac physician, Dr. Burtis, to be put on the list for a heart transplant. He received a heart transplant Oct. 6, 1996, t the University Medical Center in Seattle, Wash. He also donated samples of his skin to the facility’s research program to help research why anti-rejection medicines caused skin cancer. After spending a year in Everett, Wash., recovering from the operation, he came back to Alaska and settled in Meadow Lakes.

There he gathered his strength while his wife helped by working nights at the Tesoro gas station so they could build their home and store. There he enjoyed visiting with customers, talking with miners, telling jokes and making them laugh. He always had a story to tell.

He believed in a superior being, angels, the power of prayer he received from all those who said they’d say one for him. Most of all, he believed in the healing power of laughter. He believed you should find something every day to laugh about, even if it had to be on you.

He was a generous, loving, caring person. All who were blessed with the opportunity to have known him can only smile.

George was filled with grit and fight. He was a medical miracle being a heart transplant patient for 16 years and four months.

George’s son, John Coon wrote: “George Coon was my dad and the smartest man I have known. There was nothing he couldn’t do. He built most of our homes, and not just the wells but all of it — top to bottom. He did this not from blueprints, but from his head. He could fix anything with an engine, from four-wheelers to 18-wheelers, a lawn mower to a D9 CAT. His knowledge of so many things made him my go-to man when I needed an answer to something. I think many others got advice from him as well, if they asked or not. He was born in what some call our ‘Greatest Generation,’ and I can see why. Men like my dad are few, and each day we have fewer. I will miss him just as many others will miss him.”

George’s loving wife Deborah wrote: “He was my best friend, my soul partner and loving husband. His spirit has found eternal peace and his soul is pain free. The thought of him will bring a smile to my face and laughter throughout the entire Matanuska-Susitna Valley.”

Preceding him in death were his father, mother, stepfather, two sisters, a brother and a son.

Surviving are his wife, Deborah; his brother, Horace E. Coon; step-sister, Alberta Comparan; stepbrother, William Johnston; his three sons, George of Arizona, Michael of Wasilla, and John Coon of Anchorage; his daughters-in-law, Lorene Coon and Alena Coon; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Arrangements were by the Valley Funeral Home and Crematory. A guestbook is online at alaskanfuneral.com.