Valley residents pause to pay respect to fallen Trooper

ANCHORAGE — Word spread like glacier silt in the Matanuska winds Wednesday morning that an honor procession of Alaska law enforcement officers would be escorting the remains of Alaska State Trooper Tage Toll from Anchorage to the Valley.

The procession began in Anchorage at 10 a.m., and followed the Glenn Highway to the Parks Highway into Wasilla.

Dozens of Valley residents joined with members of Toll’s family and community members on the Trunk Road overpass to pay respects as the procession moved along the highway en route to Alaska Heritage Funeral Home.

Tina Goodwin said she saw the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman’s Facebook post about the escort and rounded up her family on short notice to stand on the road’s edge and wait to pay respect as the procession of law enforcement vehicles passed them on the Palmer-Wasilla Extension.

“It was very emotional,” Goodwin said.

She was there with her husband, Andrew, daughter, Echo, and her father-in-law, Ed Goodwin.

Goodwin said she was glad she saw the Facebook post in time to participate.

AST spokesperson Megan Peters said 80 to 100 law enforcement vehicles representing nearly every law enforcement agency in Southcentral Alaska took part in the procession for Toll and Department of Public Safety pilot Mel Nading.

The procession began in Anchorage, where a law enforcement escort carried Nading to a funeral home there and continued to the Valley, where Toll’s remains will be prepared for burial. Services for both men are planned this weekend.

Services planned

Services are planned this weekend for Toll and Nading.

Trooper spokesperson Megan Peters said attendance is expected to be high at both memorial services. The public is asked to please be mindful to leave seats available for family, close friends and members of the law enforcement community, she said.

Trooper Toll’s service is planned at 3 p.m., April 7 at Wasilla Bible Church, 1651 W. Nicola Ave., Wasilla — off the George Parks Highway across from Spenard Builder’s Supply. Plans for a reception following the service have not been made at this time.

Nading’s service is planned at noon, April 6 at ChangePoint Church, 6689 ChangePoint Dr., Anchorage — near the intersection of Minnesota Drive and Raspberry Road.

A reception follows at the same location.

‘They’re definitely heroes’

No information is available thus far about services for Carl Ober, 56, the Talkeetna snowmachiner also killed onboard Helo-1 when it crashed Saturday.

Nading, 55, and Toll, 40, were flying to get Ober, who was injured when the aircraft went down just short of its rendezvous with medics at the Sunshine Tesoro station. The wreckage of Helo-1 was discovered Sunday morning.

That Toll and Nading gave their lives while helping Ober is humbling and sad, his sister-in-law Donna Ober said.

“The fact that they risked their lives to go out and rescue him, it’s hard to explain the emotion,” she said.

The youngest of eight children, Carl Ober grew up on a farm in Virginia and was the lone wolf of the family, Donna Ober said. That he choose to live in Alaska seemed a good fit for him, she said.

“They all certainly feel bad about it,” she said of the accident, “but the way he lived his life, they expected this call at any time.

He was a guide for whitewater rafting in Colorado and he was sort of the mountain man type.”

She said it hits close to home thinking about how Toll and Nading were willing to sacrifice to save another.

“My little grandson was here when we got the information,” she said. “He’s 7, and we were talking about it around the dinner table and he was listening. He said, ‘ah, they gave their lives for their country.’

“We all know about policemen and firemen putting their lives on the line every day, but we don’t see it close to home like this. They rescued him, they went out and rescued him and did their jobs. They’re definitely heroes, even though the mission wasn’t entirely successful.”

Reporter Greg Johnson contributed to this report.

Memorial funds have been established through Wells Fargo Bank for the families of Helo-1 pilot Mel Nading and Alaska State Trooper Tage Toll. Both accounts were set up by Anneliese Cooper, and anyone wanting to contribute by transferring funds will need that name.

• Tage Toll Memorial Fund: Wells Fargo Bank account No. 1018256758

• Mel Nading Memorial Fund: Wells Fargo Bank account No. 1018256766