Mary Evelyn Harvey

Wasilla pioneer Mary Evelyn Harvey, 89, died in her sleep following a heart attack Sept. 13, 2010, in Salem, Ore.

She was born March 11, 1921, to Kenneth and Lydia Adams in Trenton, Mo. Her family moved to California in the 1930s, where she graduated from Montebello High School. She then attended and graduated from Pacific Bible Seminary in Long Beach, Calif., where she met Wenter Harvey.

After graduating, they married in December 1940, and in 1945 moved to Wasilla as missionaries.

They started the first church in Wasilla, the Wasilla Christian Church, which celebrated its 65th anniversary this summer, and she was invited to attend the celebration. The new church building is on Knik-Goose Bay Road. She and Wenter also built and established the Cottonwood Christian Camp, which hosted summer camps for all Christian churches in Alaska for almost 20 years.

They also built their home, which still stands on Knik-Goose Bay Road in Wasilla. Wenter and Mary dug that well by hand — 40 feet. Their first church building was the white first school house, which now sits in a cluster of historic buildings in downtown Wasilla near the Dorothy Page Museum. They also held Easter breakfasts for all Wasilla residents in the community hall, now named the Dorothy G. Page Museum. They built their second church building, which is now Totem Rentals in Wasilla.

Mary taught school in Wasilla and attended Alaska Methodist University in Anchorage, receiving her master’s degree. The couple served in Wasilla for almost 20 years, then moved to Oregon in 1965, where Mary taught school until she was 83. They then moved to Turner Retirement Homes, where they resided until their deaths.

Mary will be remembered for her care, compassion, boundless energy and her sweet disposition. She adored children and it fed her soul to see them succeed and become successful. When she retired, Mary was teaching some of the children of her former first-grade students. She wrote children’s books and also wrote “Alaska Calls,” a biography of their service in Wasilla, which is in the Wasilla Library.

Mary is survived by her daughter, Donna Smith of Corvallis, Ore.; son Ken (Nancy) Harvey of Eugene, Ore. She’s also survived by two sisters, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, numerous cousins and a host of friends who will miss her caring attitude and effervescent sense of humor. She was so blessed to see many in the Valley during visits the past two summers.

In lieu of flowers, Mary requested gifts in her memory be sent to Kulpahar Kids Home in India — P.O. Box 2424, Glendale, AZ — a children’s home for orphans run by two of her college girlfriends. Memorial contributions can also be made to Hosea Youth Services, P.O. Box 1401, Eugene, Ore., a homeless ministry and shelter run by her son, Ken Harvey.