Margaret K. Carnes

Margaret K. Carnes, 98, died Jan. 4, 2013, at the Anchorage Pioneer Home.

Steven Schwartz from Church on the Rock will officiate at a celebration of life from 2 to 4 p.m., Jan. 13 at the Wasilla Senior Center. A graveside service is planned in Royalton, Minn., at a later date.

Margaret was born March 14, 1914, in Little Falls, Minn., to Clifford and Ann Tidd. Margaret was a devoted Nazarene, Gideon Auxiliary for 60 years and volunteered her time for the Prison Fellowship program in Las Cruces, N.M. Margaret received many Senior Olympics medals — local, state and national — and has also participated in the Volksmarch.

The family wrote that Margaret was “a special lady who, with Ken, adopted three children four months apart in age. She loved outdoor sports and made many friends in the Las Cruces Bike+Chowder Club. At 90, she had a swim pass to Wasilla High School pool. She started teaching in 1941, retiring in her 80s as a substitute teacher with the Las Cruces Public School. She started a birthday club for those sharing her birthday — it met for 45 years.

“Gospel music was a big part of her life, taking voice lessons in her 70s to perform in competitions. As a Gideon Auxiliary member for 60 years, she placed many Bibles in offices wherever she lived. She was active in prison ministries, playing piano and trying to help ladies in recovery. She and Ken felt it was important for their children to know as much as possible about their birth families, spending many hours bringing them together. Her church was a source of great joy.”

Surviving are her daughter, Bonita K. Carroll (Richard) of Wasilla; brother, Charles K. Carnes (Francis) of Rialto, Calif.; granddaughters, Josette Willcox of Palmer, Linda Stotler (Danny) of Wasilla and Collette Carnes of Arlington, Va.; grandson, Eric Pieper of Oroville, Calif.; great-grandchildren; and extended family member, Bea Kuykendall of Ennis, Texas, birth sister of Bonita Carroll.

Preceding her in death was her husband, Kenneth S. Carnes; daughter, Beverly A. Buzbee; and parents, Clifford and Ann Tidd.

Memorial donations may be made to the Spanish Nazarene Church, 1025 Maple, Las Cruces, NM 88001; Gideon’s Int’l, P.O. Box 3217, Las Cruces, NM 88001; and the Prison Fellowship, P.O. Box 1550, Merrifield, VA 22116-1550.

Arrangements were by Valley Funeral Home. An obituary and guestbook are online at alaskanfuneral.com.