LEAH JEAN WISECARVER

Big Lake resident Leah Jean Wisecarver died Feb. 10, 2002, of natural causes. Mrs. Wisecarver was born Dec. 3, 1923, in Anderson, Calif., to Morris and Frankie Miller, both descendants of California pioneer families. Services will be held today at the Valley Funeral Home in Wasilla at 3 p.m., with a reception at the Wisecarver home in Big Lake at 4:30 p.m.

After graduating from Anderson Union High School and attending Chico State University for one year, she married her high school sweetheart, Merle Wisecarver, in San Francisco in January 1943.

From California, she, her husband and children moved to Anchorage in 1956, where she was a grocery clerk, and later a secretary at Fort Richardson. In 1979, she and her husband retired and moved to Big Lake. They lost their home during the Miller's Reach Fire, and had to build a new home.

Despite working outside the home for many years, she was first and foremost a wife and mother. She guided and supported her family through all of their endeavors, and no one that ever met her would forget her kindness and generosity. She personified true Alaskan hospitality.

Her children said of her, "She taught all of us to work hard, to take care of our responsibilities and to learn from our mistakes. Our tears did not embarrass her, but our whining did. We soon learned not to whine. She always encouraged our dreams but loved us too much to let us hide from the real world."

Her parents, Morris and Frankie Miller of Anderson, Calif., preceded Mrs. Wisecarver in death.

Mrs. Wisecarver is survived by Merle, her husband of 59 years; her son and daughter-in-law, Richard and Margaret Wisecarver of Wasilla; her daughter and son-in-law, Jeannie and Dennie Thompson of Senora, Calif.; 14 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren; her aunt, Genev Roberts; her brother and sister-in-law, Alwin and Margaret Miller, and many others. Her great-granddaughter Angelica Wise will especially miss her.