Mary Anna Jurasek

Mary Anna Jurasek

Mary Anna Jurasek, an original 1959 homesteader, died Monday, August 24, 2020 at 81 years of age in her home in Trapper Creek, Alaska.

Mary Anna was born in Porter, IN, and in the summer of 1959 drove the Alcan to Alaska with her husband. The two staked their remote 160-acre parcel overlooking a spectacular view of the Denali mountain range and raised four boys and one girl. As the Parks Highway took shape, Mary Anna and other early settlers were instrumental in the official naming of Trapper Creek. In the 61 years Mary Anna lived on her homestead, she first enjoyed the adventure of a two-room cabin and later took great comfort and pride in her large frame home where her ever-expanding family grew to include close to 20 grandchildren and a dozen great grandchildren.

Mary Anna was a devout member of St. Philip’s Catholic Church and an eager coordinator and participant in community events. Her most beloved job was driving bus, first for the local schools and later as an activity school bus driver, taking students throughout the vast expanses of Alaska.

Always up for an adventure, Mary Anna loved driving trips, venturing the Alcan and across the United States numerous times. She also delighted in vacations to Ireland, the Czech Republic, Mexico, and Hawaii, as well as cruises to the Caribbean and Mexico. Notably, Mary Anna’s greatest adventure and delight was coming to Alaska, which was chronicled in Life Magazine, November 30, 1959 and again in the National Geographic in the mid 1960’s.

Mary Anna is survived by all five of her children, Anthony Joseph Jurasek Jr. and family; Nicholas Frank Jurasek and family; Thomas James Jurasek, wife Lisa and family; Robert John Jurasek, wife Melissa and family; and Sylvia Ann Marie Keller and family. Special recognition and appreciation is also extended to Mary Anna’s Aunt Mary Kamaski and family; Aunt Ann and Uncle Don Novak and family; the Callaway family; the Yagelski family; the Hall family; friends in Indiana and throughout the U.S.; Amy Jean Harren; and Fr. Dustin of Tanzania.

All are invited to an outdoor gathering, to be held at the Jurasek homestead, mile 3.3 Petersville Road, on Saturday, August 29, 2020, Mass at 11 a.m., and Celebration of Life 12-3 p.m. Due to current health mandates to social distance, please no shared food or drinks. Any memorial donations can be directed to St. Philip’s Catholic Church or the Upper Susitna Senior Center.