GRACE BLUME

Grace Blume of Houston passed away June 22, 2007, from complications caused by second-hand-smoke-related health problems. She was 90.

Born June 8, 1927, in Ashland, Wis., Blume attended school there through high school and one year of college. She met the love of her life Jack Blume in the eighth grade. He reportedly told his friends, &#8220I'm going to marry that girl someday” upon seeing her for the first time.

The couple were friends through high school and became engaged in 1937. They were married June 19, 1938, in the first church wedding held in Ashland since the start of World War II. They build a log cabin on the Flambeau Flowage in Phillips, Wis., in the early 1940s.

After a year of working for his father, Jack and Grace moved to Duluth, Minn., where she was a homemaker and he worked as an electrician. After the war ended they bought a funeral home in Shell Lake, Wis., and moved their family there in 1947. She then worked as Jack's assistant in running the business and the local ambulance service.

The couple had to retire and sell the funeral home when Jack had a major stroke and heart attack at age 52. They lived in Florida for a while, then Arizona before returning to Wisconsin, where they lived until Jack passed away in 1999.

Grace Blume belonged to the Methodist church in Shell Lake for many years and was an active member of Eastern Star and the church's women's guild. She enjoyed creating costumes for characters for holiday parades in Shell Lake and was always willing to help others. She was a talented seamstress and knit pretty sweaters. Blume was also a great cook and loved watching television the past few years.

In 2005, Grace Blume moved to Alaska to live with her daughter Gretchen in Houston.

Blume is survived daughter Gretchen (Gary) Woodard of Houston; son Jack W. (Leanne) Blume Jr. of Eau Claire, Wis.; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her first son, Jack Howard Blume; and her husband, Jack Walter Blume Sr.

Memorials many be sent to the Shriners Children's Hospital of your choice.

Grace Blume was cremated as she wished and her ashes joined her husband's in their urn. They will be interred in the Phillips, Wis., Cemetery with their first born and a memorial service will be held 2:30 p.m. July 8 at the Smith Funeral Home in Eau Claire.

Michael Vincent Hayes

Palmer resident Michael Vincent Hayes, 38, died June 24, 2007, at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage from injuries received in an airplane crash.

A celebration of Hayes' life will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Pavilion D. Matanuska River Park on the Old Glenn Highway in Palmer. Bring lawn chairs.

Hayes was born April 28, 1969, in Glennallen and was a lifelong Alaska resident. He attended Palmer High School and the Denver Automotive and Diesel College. He was a hunting guide and commercial fisherman.

Hayes is survived by his fiancé Sarah Henslee of Palmer; daughter Callisy Erlendson of Wasilla; grandson Rodney of Wasilla; mother Doris and Stepfather Milton Lurn; father R. Kelly Hayes of Shorline, Wash.; sisters Lois (Greg) Mastel of Washington, D.C., and Dawn Hayes of Palmer; step-brother Matthew Lurn of Anchorage; and grandmother Hazel Fair of New Jersey. He was preceded in death by a brother, David Hayes.

His family will remember Hayes as a lifelong Alaskan who embraced the Alaskan wilderness as an avid and skilled hunter and fisherman. He lived life to it's fullest and pursued it full throttle. He also loved to fly.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Mike Hayes Memorial Fund at the Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union in Palmer, established for his daughter and grandson.

Jessica Brigida Stevens

Jessica Brigida Stevens, 47, died June 20, in Talkeetna. A memorial service will be held July 1, at 2 p.m. at the Talkeetna Elementary School. Local arrangements were provided by Kehl's Palmer Mortuary.