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John ‘JP’ Poljacik
Former Skagway resident John (JP) Poljacik, 64, died Saturday, December 21, 2013 after a long and courageous battle with ocular melanoma. His death occurred at his Kasilof home with his wife Colleen and his two Newfies, Sweet Pea and Bud by his side.
On Saturday, Jan. 11, at a friend’s house in Soldotna, we had a celebration of life gathering attended by many friends and work colleagues from all over Alaska and beyond.
A Bennington, Vermont native, JP moved to Alaska over three decades ago and made his home in Skagway where he met and married Colleen Sinnott. He and Colleen later moved to the Kenai Peninsula where he was happiest when walking with his dogs, riding his motorcycle or working on his land.
John served as a combat engineer in Vietnam and was a man known for his ethics, strong work habits, integrity, and booming laugh. He was a craftsman and master woodworker as evidenced in the artistic and lasting qualities of the buildings he constructed.
While living in Skagway, JP worked on many significant projects including building the library, restoring the Pack Train building, building the Westmark’s 200 wing and Bonanza Bar and Grill, helping supervise the construction of the Skagway School, supervising the construction of the White Pass gift shop and remodel, and returning a few years ago to supervise the construction of the new Rasmuson Community Health Center for the Dahl Memorial Clinic. Not to mention the numerous houses he built in town and Dyea!
While living in Kasilof, John worked for Dawson Construction as a superintendent and left a legacy of impressive work throughout the state of Alaska. One of his favorite and most challenging projects was building the Eielson Visitor Center in the middle of Denali National Park.
John is survived by his wife of 29 years, Colleen Sinnott; his mother, Ethel Poljacik; his dogs Bud and Sweet Pea; and many friends, aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws, with Pete Holden and Nancy Ryan having held a special place in his heart.
He was preceded in death by his father, John Andrew Poljacik Sr.
One of the last things he said to Colleen was, “I’m going now to ride my motorcycle.” His friends and family have no doubt that he is riding his motorcycle through the universe with the wind on his face and a smile in his heart.
ln lieu of flowers, donations can be made in John's name to your local food bank or animal shelter.
Jim Hester
Dec. 1941 - Jan. 2014
Former Skagway Police Chief James Donald Hester passed away on January 1, 2014 in Witts Springs, Arkansas. He was born in West Frankfort, Illinois on December 16, 1941 to the late James Oval Hester and Ruby Roberta Keelin Hester. He was the oldest of their seven children. At the age of five, Jim knew that he wanted to pursue the career of a police officer. He also started at that young age with a life long hobby of gunsmithing. His first encounter with dismantling and reassembling a gun happened when he was five years old with his toy cap gun.
Jim graduated from the San Gabriel California Police Academy in 1964. He served as a motor officer until 1969. He was struck by a car while on duty and was unable to return to his position of motor officer, retiring from the state of California in 1970. He continued using his law enforcement experience through directing security, internal theft and corporate investigations.
In 1977, Jim became Skagway’s Chief of Police. He served in this position until 1983. While in Skagway, he was a member of the Alaska Shrine, the Scottish Rite and the White Pass Lodge of the Freemasons.
He served as the North Pole police chief until 1985, in which he retired from the State of Alaska. Unable to continue in his career of law enforcement due to his struggles with Crohn’s Disease, he decided to pursue a less strenuous career of gunsmithing. In order to be deemed as a reputable gunsmith, he felt that he needed to be properly trained and certified. He decided to move his family to Prescott Valley, Ariz. in 1986 to pursue a degree in gunsmithing and machinery. He graduated from Yavapai College in 1988 with his Associate of Applied Science Degree in Gunsmithing.
Jim excelled greatly with his hobby/turned career of gunsmithing. He became a Master Gunsmith and Machinist. Upon graduation, The Hand Prop Room, a prop house for the film and TV industry in Los Angeles, hired him. He fabricated and/or modified all the firearms of the prop house. He also created different weapons and props for the film industry. Some of weapons that he crafted or modified can be seen in the movies Glory, Kindergarten Cop, Turner and Hooch, and The Addams Family along with the television shows Alien Nation, Major Dad and Young Riders.
In 1991, he permanently retired to Witts Springs. He continued to fabricate guns, modify and repair firearms for himself and others. His hobbies included studying history, especially the Civil War era, playing clawhammer banjo, tinkering with firearms, reading, and being active in the Single Action Shooting Society.
He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Janis Hester of Witts Springs, Arkansas; three daughters, Marina Medina of Hesperia, California, Candy Richey of Monument, Colorado, and Rebecca Kee of Miami, Texas; one brother, Jerry Hester of Marion, Illinois; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his brothers Billy Hester, Norman Hester and Leonard Hester; his sister Ruby Hester Baldino; and one grandson, Kevin Medina.
His obituary may be viewed at www.rosewoodcremation.com. A Celebration of Life was held in honor of Jim on January 11, 2014 in Witts Springs, Arkansas.
Peter W. Sparks
December 1915 - February 2014
Former Skagway resident Peter Winfield Sparks, age 92 died at his residence in Locust Grove, VA on February 5, 2014.
Peter was born on February 19, 1921 on Bainbridge Island, Washington the son of the late Victor Leroy and Abbie (Crepeau) Sparks . His paternal grandparents, Winfield Scott Sparks and Charrie (Denny) were early Skagway residents. His maternal grandparents, Peter Medard Crepeau and Abbie (McCarthy) also resided in Skagway.
He spent his childhood in Skagway, Alaska where he graduated from Skagway High School in 1939. This was the first graduating class from the “new school”. His classmates included: Jean Elizabeth Reynoldson, Henry Charles Dulles, Marjorie B. Aden, Laurence J. Alby, Dorothy Wilmot Gardiner, Joan Mary Hannon, Robert Lee Rapuzzi, and Dorothy Wilson.
The Trailblazer, the school paper, predicts some of his future, it stated: Peter Sparks’ ambition is to sail around the world and he has already started to build his “yacht”.
Pete had a lifelong love of boats. In 1939 he built a 16’ foot sailboat using plans that his friend Stanley Smith had found in the boating magazine “Motorboat”. Building the boat in his Dad’s shop, his mother sewed the sails they had laid out on the school gym floor. He and Stanley launched the boat in May 1939, Pete stated “we caught a rare north wind and sailed to Haines, there they decided to become salmon fishermen; boat was not a good salmon fisher and they returned home not having made their fortune.
He left Skagway again in 1940 in the “Sweet Sixteen” hoping to make it to Seattle. In an article (unknown source) headline: Boys Sail South in Small Boat; “braving storm-swept Alaskan waters, in a sixteen-foot, homemade, auxiliary powered sailboat, Peter Sparks, 19 years old and Stanley Smith, 20, are enroute from their Skagway, Alaska homes to Seattle. …we hear of going north to adventure but they have turned the tables and are coming south to adventure.” They actually sailed to Ketchikan where they put the boat on a trawler that took them to Seattle where they sold the boat, bought a car, and travelled throughout the west coast.
Pete worked at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, starting as an apprentice boat builder; in 1944 joined the Navy where he was assigned to the USS Pintado submarine. After WW II ended he returned to Bremerton, WA where he started out as an engineering draftsman and worked his way up to becoming a Naval Architect at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. On August 31, 1946 he married Mary Hoath of Springfield, PA. They remained in Bremerton until 1962 when he was transferred to the Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C. and retired in 1979.
Pete’s lifelong love of the sea continued as he built model boats, a fully working hydroplane, and invested over 3000 hours on the tug boat "Shelley Foss" that included working anchors, motor, and fire hose.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Mary, and sister Charlotte (Sparks) Olson of Seattle, WA and is survived by five children: Dr. Sheila (Sparks) Ralph and her husband Dick of Hamilton, VA; Sue (Sparks) Hall and her husband COL (ret) Dave of Killeen, TX; JoAnn (Sparks) Hargrave-Roth and her husband Don of Locust Grove, VA; Peter A. Sparks of Locust Grove, VA and Peggy Sparks of Hamilton, VA, and one grand-daughter Raelen Hargrave of Orange, VA.
Interment will be at Arlington Cemetery at a later date.
MORE FAMILY HISTORY
- Victor Leroy Sparks and Abbie Agnes (Crepeau)
As early as 1903 Victor is listed in the Alaska and Yukon Gazetteer as an upholsterer for the WP&YR. He left Skagway in 1905 to attend Art School in San Francisco, he was there during the earthquake in 1906 and recounted to his son that he often had dreams about the aftermath. Teaching at the school was Will Sparks, a well-known California artist; as was Rube Goldberg—his influence can be seen in many of Vic’s cartoons. Vic was a member of the Artic Brotherhood in 1907. He published many political cartoons in “The Interloper”, a Skagway paper. He worked on the WP&YR in various capacities: railroad shop-foundry helper, helper, blacksmith helper, fireman on rotary fleet, hostler, and painter.
He drew the covers of the “Trail Blazer”, the Skagway school paper published by the Aurora Borealis society for many years.
He was commissioned by the WP&YR to do an oil painting for each parlor car; in a letter to Peter he says “finished Bennett Church, now in 5 cars, 2 more in shop, starting one of the Princess Louise coming in to dock, rotary made, steel bridge expect to make, 3 more to make (Sheila has photographs of 7); paintings were stolen from the round house in 1971, most were returned after publication of an article by Barbara Dedman in the Alaska magazine.
Vic was deputized in 1930 as a US Marshall by CJ Sullivan, Deputy US Marshall to help capture the “Kangaroo Kid”, an escaped convict.
Sullivan, the sheriff from Haines needed Vic to use his boat, the Felix, to capture the convict who practically climbed into the boat as he was starving and knew he could not escape.
Throughout his life, Vic, “Skagway’s Sourdough Artist”, made an impression. He played the sheriff in the Days of ’98 review, Anna True said “they met all the boats, Vic dressed as the sheriff would say ‘you need to go to jail because you don’t have a beard’
He made showcards for activities ranging from the Elks to the Salmon Derby and could be counted on to do Rube Goldberg inspired cards for anyone arriving or leaving Skagway.
Abbie (Crepeau) Sparks came to Skagway in 1914; she worked as a stenographer for Philip Abrahams.
After their marriage in 1918 they lived on Bainbridge Island, WA with her parents where both Charlotte and Peter were born.
They returned to Skagway in 1923 after the death of Charrie Marie.
She was very active in the Skagway Women’s Club and helped write Carnegie grants that purchased books for the library.
She was listed in Alaska Who’s Here….in 1955.
- Winfield Scott Sparks and Charrie Marie (Denny)
Winfield Sparks bought property in Skagway as early as 1898, “this indenture made between Christ Ludwig and H.W. Reinhart….according to the plat thereof made by Frank H. Reid, civil engineer, recorded this 19th day of April, signed by Christ Ludwig, witnessed by Paul L. Lovell and Lewis Garrison (original deed in possession of author).
He traveled to Atlin, BC, where he worked a claim with Sam Freeman, Chas Schaeker, and P.J. Christensen. He was a property owner in Skagway most of the remainder of his life, active in the Eagles, listed in the Alaska and Yukon Gazetteer as a carpenter.
In 1911 he served on the Skagway Town Council. Among his customers were Martin Conway, WP&YR-built the hose house, and his grandson, Peter Sparks said he did much of the millwork in the Pullen House. Although born in Iowa, he ran away from home when his mother died and lived with a relative in Minnesota where he met his wife, Charrie Marie (Denny), in 1879 he graduated from Oskaloosa College (IO) in bookkeeping and telegraphy.
They went to Portland, OR where their sons, Victor Leroy and Wilbur Earl were born in 1884 and 1886.
He hunted mountain goats and fished Long Bay in a 20’ cabin cruiser named “Agnes”.
He raised award winning dahlias; their house had 3 bedrooms, an outhouse, and running water in the kitchen.
Charrie Marie (Denny) was a member of the Eastern Star (Naomi Chapter).
After her death in 1923, Peter returned from Bainbridge Island, WA to Skagway with his parents, Victor Leroy Sparks and Abbie Agnes (Crepeau) to live with Winfield.
- Peter Medard Crepeau and Abbie (McCarthy)
Peter Medard Crepeau was born in Minnesota, the son of French Canadian immigrants.
He sailed from Seattle on the second boat that left for the Klondike in 1897.
He went over the Chilkoot Pass to Bennett Lake where he built a boat and went to Dawson.
He later went to Nome where the ship he was on lost its rudder and was thought lost at sea and was reported as overdue in Seattle.
Several weeks later the ship arrived using a rudder the shipmates had rigged. He married Abbie Deborah McCarthy in Montana in 1888.
He and his sons, Charles Edward and Louis Arthur worked for the WP&YR; his sons played baseball in Skagway and his daughter, Abbie Agnes came to Skagway in 1914.
Chris Wick
May 1965 - March 2014
Former Skagway resident Christopher James Wick died on March 27, 2014 at his home in Washington state.
Born May 28, 1965 at Tacoma General Hospital, Chris was born and raised in the Puget Sound, graduating from Curtis H.S. in 1983.
After taking a summer job in Skagway with the Days of ’98 Show, Chris fell in love with AK, staying 17 years. He worked for the city’s public works department and enjoyed being an active member of both the volunteer fire department and F.O.E. No. 25.
After returning to University Place near Tacoma, Chris continued his active F.O.E. service with Aerie No. 3.
Chris married the love of his life and partner in crime, Judy, on September 4, 2006.
This avid NASCAR fan never missed a race, could build almost anything, and loved the holidays, and especially his Seahawks.
Chris made friends wherever he went, devoting his time and energy to helping each and every person he encountered along his adventure of life.
He left us too soon on March 27, surrounded by family and friends. He is survived by his wife, Judy; daughter, Tarah; grandson, Mason; parents, James and Lois; and brothers, Ranald and Cullen.
Take care of Goose for us. We love and miss you.
Services were held at New Tacoma Cemetery on April 3, 2014.
Timothy Adam ‘Sonny’ Twitchell
December 1946 - June 2014
Beloved father, grandfather, and brother Timothy “Sonny” Twitchell “walked around the point” at his home in Bothell, Washington, where he stayed with his nephew Stephen Larson and family. He was born on December 14, 1946 in Fairbanks and grew up in Takotna and then in Anchorage, where he cared for his parents Timothy and Anna Twitchell, and raised his sons. Tim, who is called “Sonny” by most of his family, was generous and funny, and traveled, played cards, listened to classic rock and country, and loved jokes and trivia.
He was always around family, and spent large portions of the summer taking the ferry to Southeast Alaska to live with his sons and their families.
He spent much of his later years migrating between Washington, California, and Pennsylvania, and talked often of his time in the Army serving in Korea and traveling to Norway with his father to meet his mother’s relatives.
He was an avid sports fan, and split his time rooting for teams in the San Francisco Bay area and Philadelphia.
Before moving to the city of Anchorage, he learned how to survive in the bush from his parents, who were teachers, reindeer herders, and hunters. His father Tim was one of the first Alaska Natives to graduate college and his mother was an Alaskan Pioneer who helped bridge northern Sámi culture with those of Western and Southcentral Alaska.
Sonny was a veteran and served in Korea, working in the communications field, which would turn out to be his primary career when he returned to Alaska.
He did his basic training in Fort Sills, Oklahoma, and his technical training at the Devry Institute in Chicago.
A man of high intelligence, he was extremely gifted in communications technology and would often be called in to solve technical problems across the state.
In addition, he was a gifted painter who worked in oils and watercolors, creating vibrant, textural landscapes of Alaska.
Tim is missed tremendously by his sons, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins. His sense of humor and kindness will be passed along through generations, and have made the world a better place. We will miss his stories, teasing, flirting, dirty jokes, and his excellent cooking.
He is a testament to strength and resilience, and a survivor of a difficult life that often knocked him down but never out. Through it all, he never lost his kindness and strength, and was at home everywhere he went.
He was preceded in death by his parents Anna and Tim Twitchell, and his sister Ruth Twitchell.
He is survived and loved by his siblings Lois Stover, Ann (Eunice) Pacheco, Esther Larson, Rachel Twitchell Justiss, Hannah Twitchell, Mary Eyman, Becky Twitchell, and his brother Matt Twitchell.
He will be remembered forever by cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, and most of all by his sons and their families: Timothy Wayne Twitchell, wife Blossom, son Allistair, and daughters Teslin & Lucca Bea; Lance Arron Twitchell, wife Miriah, daughters Kiana & Ava, and son Cody; and Adam Hollis Makeah Twitchell, his youngest son.
Thank you for being a wonderful dad. Thank you for being strong. Thank you for being you.
Margaret Brown
September 1921 - July 2014
Former resident and long-time teacher Margaret Brown, who lived in Skagway from 1964 until 1990, passed away at the Beehive Home in Deming, New Mexico on July 10, 2014.
A memorial service will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on September 13, 2014, and Margaret’s remains will be interred beside those of her husband Carlton “Brownie” Brown in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
Margaret was born on September 21, 1921 to Raymond and Louise (Williams) Hodges in Cannon Township, Kent County, Michigan.
On October 4, 1952, she married Carlton Blaine Brown (Brownie) at St. Mary’s Church in Cascade, Michigan.
They had two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth.
Margaret, her husband and daughters moved to Skagway in 1964, when Brownie took a job as an assistant dispatcher on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad. Margaret began teaching second grade at Skagway City School in 1965.
She taught there for 16 years, retiring in 1981. Both daughters graduated from Skagway City School.
Margaret was a lifelong Catholic who attended mass and played the organ at St. Therese Catholic Church for many years.
Preceding her in death were her husband Carlton Brown in 1978; her parents Raymond and Louise Hodges; three brothers, Phil, James, and John “Ray” Hodges; and two sisters, Lois Bassett and Phyllis Blanchard.
She will be lovingly remembered by her two daughters, Mary and husband Jeff Ash of Alabaster, Alabama, and Elizabeth and husband Ted Burr of Deming, New Mexico; seven grandchildren: Amy, Alan, Daniel, Scott, David, Matthew, and Sarah, 14 great grandchildren; a brother, Karl Hodges and his wife Barbara of Caledonia, Michigan, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Margaret always maintained a strong interest in Skagway, and subscribed to The Skagway News to keep up on the happenings.
Donations can be made in the name of Margaret Brown to Skagway City Library or St. Therese Catholic Church.
Phil Bruehler
September 1949 - July 2014
Phil Bruehler loved trains. Growing up in the Chicago area, the largest and most important railroad city in the country, he became early in his life a devotee of rail, a fascination that would last all his days. He rode them, read about them, took photos of them, attended conventions devoted to them, and I'm sure, dreamed of them.
But of all the rail lines he rode, visited, and read about, one stood out for him above all others: The White Pass & Yukon Route in Skagway, Alaska.
To Phil, White Pass had it all: fascinating history combining the great Klondike Gold Rush, a seemingly impossible construction story, incredible vistas, and almost unbelievable anecdotes.
Phil was devastated in 1982 when he learned of its closing, because he still had not ridden it, and now, he felt, he never would.
When he read in 1988 of its reopening, it was with glee he scheduled his first trip to Skagway, not realizing then that he would make the same journey annually for the next 23 years. He rode the White Pass rails for the first 14 of those years as a tourist, including the historic centennial years of the Gold Rush and White Pass.
In 2002, he decided riding a few times each year was not enough, and became a train agent.
Phil quickly became a legend on the White Pass, delighting and enchanting passengers not only with his encyclopedic knowledge of railroading, the Klondike Gold Rush, and WPYR history, but also with his wonderful sense of humor.
By 2011, after nine years as a train agent, he found the agony of making his way down the aisles of coaches on his excruciatingly painful legs made it impossible to continue, and so he retired. He retired, but he never left White Pass and never will.
A memorial potluck will be held on Sunday, July 27, at 6 pm at the Gazebo at the White Pass RV Park.
All who knew Phil are welcome to join to share food and memories of Phil.
