ROBERT "BOB" L. STOKER

Willow resident Robert "Bob" Leslie Stoker, 83, died at Valley Hospital in Palmer of natural causes March 13, 2005. No public services are scheduled.

Mr. Stoker was born Sept. 24, 1921 in Dow, Okla. He joined the Army in the 1940s during World War II and marched from Anchorage to Nome at that time. He was stationed at Fort Richardson while the barracks were being constructed and lived in tents through the winter. He was later discharged on a disability.

He was a tunnel miner by trade and worked throughout the United States and Peru over the years. He retired in 1975 from Bechtel Corp. in Woodbridge, Va. During his travels for work assignments, he had occasion to work in Alaska on the Eklutna tunnel. In 1999, he moved to Alaska for good, settling first in Anchorage and later making Willow his home. He enjoyed hunting and fishing. He held memberships with the Masons, the Shriners and the Willow Lions Club.

He is survived by his wife, Janice Stoker of Willow; daughter, Robin Young of Oroville, Calif.; stepdaughters, Christa Andrews and husband of Willow, Rebekah Velasquez and husband of Reseda, Calif., and Sharon Baker of Sacramento, Calif.; stepson and wife, Ryan Velasquez of Anchorage, and 11 grandchildren. Arrangements were with Valley Funeral Home & Crematory in Wasilla.