Health issues force guide from Susitna Landing

There’s an old saying that there are only two things in life that are certain: death and taxes.

Tomorrow, by the way, is the deadline to file for the second of those items. However, I grew up with the notion that a third factor is also a definite in life.

That third thing is change.

If you’ve been following this column over the years, you probably remember reading about Ron and Marilyn Wilson and the Susitna Landing Boat Launch and Campground.

I first met Ron and Marilyn in 1993, shortly after I had transferred into the Boating Access Program operated by the Sports Fish Division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). My position involved, among other things, being the project manager for the Susitna Landing facility. Ron and Marilyn had just been awarded the concession contract to operate the facility for ADF&G and I needed to get their signatures on the paperwork.

The Wilsons became close personal friends of both my wife and I over the years, in addition to the working relationship I had with them for the operation of Susitna Landing. Over the course of the initial few years, I spent enough time on site working with Ron and Marilyn to develop and implement facility upgrade projects, and I ate enough meals with them, that Ron was thinking of adopting me and using me as a tax write-off!

Over time, upgrade projects were completed which replaced and upgraded the concession store/office and the required live-on-site housing. The riverbanks were stabilized against major flood damage, a covered day-use picnic area was built, and the numbers of campsites were expanded and the campsites themselves were significantly upgraded. The boat launch ramp was improved and the grounds were contoured and planted with grass.

Ron and Marilyn added a large shop and covered storage area, built two cabins for rental next to the river, and provided all the necessary vehicles and equipment to provide basic site maintenance and operation. They literally invested tens of thousands of dollars of their own money for these items to make the public’s use and stay at the facility a pleasant experience.

On top of their financial investment, they spent untold hours helping the campers, anglers, and boaters based out of Susitna Landing to have an enjoyable time while at the facility.

When Ron and Marilyn first began as concession operators, Susitna Landing had a less than sterling reputation. Ron stood up to the drunks, drug addicts and other undesirables who had “taken over” the site and literally ran them off — sometimes at gunpoint if the scum started threatening him or Marilyn. In a short time, the facility became known as a family-friendly place to camp, fish, boat, or just socialize with friends, both old and newly made.

The Wilsons began a now almost 10-year-old tradition of sponsoring the handicapped Challenge Alaska kids to a camping and coho fishing adventure at Susitna Landing the first weekend in August. With the assistance of other sports fishing guides based at the landing, these kids spent a weekend like most had never experienced before, and they almost always caught their limits of silvers.

Ron and I developed a riverboat-oriented recreational boating safety class in conjunction with the state boating safety program. The draw to the class was not my classroom teaching but the hour or so of time Rom spent with each student in their boat on the river, teaching them how to read the water and showing them what their boat was capable of doing.

Unfortunately, this is all changing now.

Ron developed a bacterial infection in his heart this past winter, right around Christmas time. Being the stubborn man that he can be, he refused to see a doctor until the infection became so bad he had no choice. He was hospitalized and, in the first few days of his stay, suffered a serious stroke.

Ron is recovering fairly well. The infection has cleared up and he is regaining use of his left hand and arm. His left leg is not responding as quickly, but the expectation is that he will eventually regain the ability to stand and, hopefully, walk. He has made major strides in regaining memory and speech, but he still has a ways to go to once again become the same old Ron. He’s probably looking at close to another year or so of physical therapy before he will have recovered what he can from the initial stroke damage.

As a result of this major medical setback, the Wilsons have had to give up their contract to operate Susitna Landing. In addition, Ron will not be guiding sportsfishing anglers this year—– perhaps never again. Ron and Marilyn’s plans to build a cabin as their retirement home on some property they were buying over near Trapper Lake are also on hold and may need some rethinking depending on how well Ron finally recovers.

The Susitna River community of local residents and users has lost two very special folks, at least for the short term. Remember Ron and Marilyn in your prayers.

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by e-mailing sports@frontiersman.com.