Rusty William Lewis

Rusty William Lewis, 37, died Feb 5, 2006, in his sleep, with family and friends by his side at Alaska Regional Hospital.

Mr. Lewis was born Oct. 19, 1968, in Milford, Utah. He grew up mainly in Whittier, where he loved to fish, Kantishna at the family gold mine and many other towns in between. He left Alaska to live in Utah for his high school years and served in the Air Force. He returned to Alaska frequently and finally to stay in 2002, to be near his family.

His loved ones wrote, &#8220Rusty was a man with many friends, whom he considered family. A friend to all, he was always willing to give the shirt off his back, a helping hand, an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, and always had words of encouragement and words of advice whether you wanted it or not!”

He was sadly preceded in death by his mother, Clara Lee; father, Rowley Eben (Bear), and his uncle, Jerry.

He is sorely missed by his wife of nearly 14 years, Melinda; his daughter, Ashlee Nicole (Squirt or Little Bit), who was his angel and light of his life; his loving sister and sunshine, Kassie Lee; his big brother, Chuck, and girlfriend, Traci; nephew and friend, Katsu, and his girlfriend, Marcy; niece, Kazi; husband, Brandon, and daughter, Marcella; nieces, Kimi, Kaisha and nephew, Luke; other relatives, Uncle Jack, Aunt Coco, Bob, Sam, George, John, Angie, Frankie Chance, Debbie, Mike and Jerry Ray; extended family, &#8220SKBH,” Ken, Tom (Pops), Ryan and &#8220Mom” Jane.

He had many, many friends whom he considered family - too many to list, you know who you are. &#8220They'll miss Unc's stories and the booming laugh you could hear from miles away!” his loved ones wrote.

&#8220Rusty is happy to finally be lifted from this earth, and we should be happy for him. He said we better not be boobin' when he passed - just give him a party to celebrate the fact that he is finally free and happy. So that's just what we'll do Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Mat Su Resort.

For more information contact Melinda at (907) 746-7899.