Vivian Corrinne Stoddard Laurie

Alaska pioneer and former Matanuska Colony Project worker Vivian Stoddard Laurie, 93, died Feb. 14 at Providence Hospital in Anchorage.

A celebration of life was held at the Anchorage Senior Center on Feb. 21; interment is planned for July.

Vivian was born March 7, 1915, in Portland, Ore., to Dayton W. and Esther G. (Graham) Stoddard. She arrived in Alaska with her mother and younger sister Fay on Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1918, joining Dayton, stationed with the Oregon National Guard at Fort Liscum on Port Valdez. The family moved to Seward upon Dayton’s discharge from the military and then in 1919 to Anchorage.

Vivian graduated from Anchorage High School in 1933. After attending Wilson’s Modern Business College in Seattle, she worked as a stenographer for the 1935 Territorial Legislature in Juneau. From 1935 through 1940 she was secretary for the managers of the federal government’s Matanuska Colony project in Palmer. On the side she worked as a stringer for the Anchorage Times and The Associated Press. She later returned to Anchorage where she worked for Star Airlines, a predecessor of today’s Alaska Airlines.

While on the project she met her future husband Bob, also a colony employee. They married Jan. 2, 1942 in Anchorage where they made their home, raising four children. After the children were in school, she worked for the Federal Aviation Administration and the Small Business Administration, retiring from the SBA in 1979.

She was preceded in death by husband Bob in October 1984, and sisters Fay Eskilson and Dorothy Walling.

Vivian enjoyed her family of four children, six grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren; as well as crossword puzzles, reading, and gardening. She was especially delighted at the opportunity to travel, with trips to Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Great Britain and France in her retirement. She was a member of Eastern Star and Rainbow Mothers, American Legion Auxiliary and Pioneers Auxiliary.

She is survived by daughters and their families: Alison and Gary Lewis of Wrangell, Fay and Pat Von Gemmingen of Palmer, and Laurie and Kevin Richmond of Hillsboro, Ore.; and son Robert Laurie of Juneau. Grandchildren Cori Hannam of Wasilla, Tracy Lewis of Oregon; Scott Von Gemmingen and Tammy Von Gemmingen of Anchorage; Jason and Lyssa Richmond of Hillsboro, Ore. She is also survived by sister Beth Allen of Renton, Wash., nieces Kim Stanton and Cindy Rabe of Anchorage; Deborah Allen of Renton, Wash.; and Denise Walling of Warrenton, Ore.; and by nephews, Robert Allen of Renton, Wash., and Robert Walling of Springfield, Ore.

The family suggests donations to Anchorage Senior Center Endowment Fund, 1300 E. 19th Ave., Anchorage, 99501, or the Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Agency of Alaska, 1750 Abbott Road, Anchorage, 99507.

Funeral arrangements by Anchorage Funeral Home.