Mildred Ellen Allen Tapscott

Mildred Ellen Allen Tapscott, 94, passed away May 19, 2014, at the Anchorage Pioneer Home, where she had been a resident since 2011.

Millie was born in Grand Valley, Colorado, June 9, 1919. After completing high school, she became a beautician and worked in a beauty salon in Denver. After war was declared in 1941, she worked at a munitions plant, packing tracer bullets for shipment overseas.

Millie came to Alaska in 1943 as a payroll clerk with Bechtel Price Callahan, the prime contractor building the Alaska Highway. After completing her contract in Fairbanks, she went to Fort Richardson to install and manage a beauty salon for the Post Exchange.

She met Jim Tapscott in 1946 and they were married that June and lived in Anchorage from 1946 to 1977. Together they were involved in various businesses, including food-equipment sales and service throughout Alaska representing Hobart Manufacturing Co. Jim was well known throughout Alaska for his artistic endeavors in a variety of media. Millie, an artist as well, taught the fine art of egg decorating and other crafts in her home studio.

They moved to Wasilla in 1977 to semi-retire and oversee their commercial rentals. They were very active in the local Chamber of Commerce and served as dedicated volunteers in many community organizations. Long-term members of Pioneers of Alaska, they were honored in 1995 as King and Queen Regents for the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous. As “royalty,” they traveled to many other festivals throughout Alaska representing the Pioneers.

In 1996 they were King and Queen of the 1996 Wasilla Iditarod Days festival. They also served on the steering committee of “Fond Memories,” a book of Alaskan pioneer histories. In 1997, in recognition of her many years as a community volunteer, Millie was one of 20 Alaskans to receive the First Lady Volunteer Award.

Jim and Millie celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1996.

Millie was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Jim, who died in October 2005.

She is survived by their daughter, Lynn, and grandsons, Erik and Greg, who reside in Washington and Arizona.

A memorial service is at 4 p.m., June 8, at All Saints Episcopal Church, 8th and F Street, Anchorage.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Anchorage Pioneer Home Donated Funds Account or Providence Hospice of Anchorage.

Arrangements are with Janssen Funeral Homes.