William Earl Hecker

Palmer resident William (Bill) Earl Hecker, 94, died in his sleep Sept. 11, 2012, at the Palmer Veterans and Pioneers Home where he had resided for 11 years.

A memorial service is at 2 p.m., Sept. 19 in the LDS chapel at 560 W. Arctic Ave., Palmer. Burial will follow at the Palmer Pioneer Cemetery.

Hecker was born in Halliday, N.D. The Hecker family eventually settled in Salem, Ore. In 1937, William joined his uncle Archie and aunt Sadie (Hecker) Moffitt as “replacement colonists” for the Matanuska Colony, part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal agricultural experiment in Alaska. He arrived in Palmer on the eve of his 20th birthday. Within the year, his parents and five sisters followed him north.

For four years, Hecker worked construction on Fort Richardson Army Base. In 1941, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he served as an equipment and vehicle mechanic both in the Aleutian Islands and Germany.

Fresh from Army service in 1946, he returned to Palmer where he met, and soon married, Bergie Alexander, who had recently arrived to teach in the Palmer School District. Three daughters soon were born: Angela Kathryn, Patricia Jean and Barbara Lee.

Following his father’s death in 1950, Bill and Bergie took sole ownership and responsibility for the family farm, including clearing land, establishing a residence and constructing necessary out-buildings.

It was a strenuous life, which left little time for recreation. He was a milk producer for Matanuska Maid Inc. and served on its board of directors.

Retired from dairying, he converted his grade-A milking parlor into a “chalet.” When the farmhouse was sold in 1989, Bill and Bergie made the small house their main residence. They enjoyed many years crisscrossing North America in their motor home visiting historical sites, family and friends. They enjoyed their lives as “snowbirds” leaving the Matanuska cold and winds behind for numerous winters. From 1984 to 1996, their chief delight was the RV that provided them a secure and clean second home, whether it was parked alongside their daughter’s place on the Kenai Peninsula where they could enjoy their grandchildren, by the ocean shore in Oregon or in the desert of Southern California.

Bill and Bergie Hecker served in the Virginia Roanoke Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1978-79.

Preceding him in death was his wife, Bergie; parents; and sisters, June, Ferne and Alice.

Surviving are sisters, Barbara (Terry) Richardson of Palmer and Joyce Hecker of Burleson, Texas; daughters, Angela of Anchorage, Patricia (Jan) Hansen of Sterling and Barbara of Palmer; grandchildren, Tessa Hansen of Germany, Miles (Rebecca) Hansen of Anacortes, Wash., Sadie (Corey) Cunningham of Mona, Utah, Todd Hansen of Sterling, Lisa (Clay) Gardner of Clearfield, Utah, and Nels Hansen of Denver, Colo.; and seven beloved great-grandchildren, Taegan, Braden, Addison and Logan Hansen, Cailyn and Carly Cunningham, and Bear Riley Gardner.