John Nash, former Assembly and Mat-Maid board member, dies at his home

March 20, 2005

ARLENE STEPHL/For the Frontiersman

PALMER - Longtime Valley resident and pioneer John D. Nash, 83, Palmer, died March 15, 2005, at his home on Wolverine Road, high above and overlooking the valley and town he supported and helped to grow through 57 years of hard work and devotion.

A memorial service is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at the Moose Lodge, 793 S. Cobb Street, Palmer.

Nash was born Sept. 16, 1921 in Williamsburg, Iowa, to Frederick and Ella Nash. He was the Iowa heavyweight division wrestling champion during high school, and graduated from Williamsburg High School in 1939.

He joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 and served as an airplane armorer on a B-24 in India, China and Burma during World War II. He was honorably discharged in 1945.

He married Sylvia Juveland on May 25, 1946, in Lake Mills, Iowa. They moved to Alaska in 1948, just a few years after the arrival of the original colony settlers who started the community that was to become the breadbasket of Alaska. The Nashs pioneered a 240-acre parcel of land in the Lazy Mountain area, where he has resided since.

"Those of us on the mountain called him Dale," said his neighbor and close friend, Jack Seemann, "because that is what Sylvia called him when they first moved here; the people down in the Valley called him John."

Seemann said the two men and their families had been neighbors and friends for 50 years. When Seemann came back from the Marine Corps and Korea in 1954, "This land was available, and Dale had the only sawmill. Roof and floor boards from that mill are spread all over the mountain now. He started by producing chickens and raising barley and oats to feed them, then selling the eggs to Matanuska Maid."

Seemann said the Nashs' first purchase was 160 acres at $3.75 an acre, "and those days it was hard for some of us to come up with that," about two miles from his current farm, but they moved because the 220 acres they eventually settled on was "better for farming and grain was in demand. We couldn't sell a bale of hay in those days, and the farmers really needed grain and straw for bedding. That's how we got into that business."

The two men often shared machinery expenses and were fishing buddies, frequently hiking to Wolverine Lake, where they would talk about wartime experiences and their early days.

"His parents had a farm in Iowa where they raised and trained horses," Seemann said. "His dad was a horse breeder."

"You could trust him with your life," Seemann said. "He was a good, solid person. And the community, especially the farming community, was his cup of tea. A lot of people are, too. He used to say, 'Timber, fishing, furs are OK, but out greatest resources are our children.' And Sylvia was the epitome of a homemaker; she always had the best garden."

Nash was involved in agriculture in Alaska for more than 50 years, both in practice and by serving on the boards of many organizations. He greatly contributed to many programs, serving as manager and executive director of the Production Marketing Association program, which was later known as the Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service.

He was a member of the board of directors of Matanuska Maid for 27 years, 20 as president. He was also on the state board of directors of the Alaska Farmers and Stockgrowers Association, and was appointed by Gov. William Sheffield to the Governor's Advisory Agricultural Commission. Nash was also executive director of the state Department of Agriculture under President Ronald Reagan.

Nash served on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly from 1973-1980, was a member of the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corp. from 1974-1995 and served as the chairman of the board from 1990 to 1994.

Ben Hermon, owner of Hermon Brothers Construction, was a heavy equipment operator when Nash was building the road up to his farm.

"I did a bunch of clearing for him on the other side of Wolverine Canyon," Hermon said, "when he was just starting. I built the road for him in the fifties before he moved up there. He'd just go out there in the morning and show me where he wanted the road.

"It took me several days just to get across the creek to the other side of the canyon, the worst part of the road construction. It was really steep and quite a way up."

Years later, when Nash was chairman of ARRC, Hermon replaced him. "I was on the board and he was chairman. He'd been on a long time and was the head man, but thought it was time to leave. As a board member I thought John Nash was very fair. He was a good leader."

"He was a loving and supportive father and grandfather, who taught by word and example the value of strength and integrity. His intelligence and wit will be greatly missed," his family said.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Sylvia; grandson, Zane Stephl, and sisters, Lyla Quakenbush and Roberta Blythe.

He is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law, Carol and Stan Reed, Barbara and Matt Stephl and Diane and Wayne Bolen, and his son and daughter-in-law, John F. and Dianne Nash; grandchildren, Sara and Karen Reed, Rachel and Rebecca Stephl, Angela and Jacob Kesler and Nathan, Madison and Makayla Nash.

He is also survived by his nephews, Darrell and Stewart Blythe, and nieces, Nancy Rasey and Julia Leopold.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 530 Dexter Ave. North, Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98109. Arrangements were made by Kehl's Palmer Mortuary.