Steven Conatser, Former Sitkan, Dies in Fairbanks
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- Category: Obituaries
- Created on Monday, 12 June 2023 14:03
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Steven R. Conatser
Former Sitka resident Steven R. Conatser passed away at home in Fairbanks on April 28, 2023. He was 61.
Steve was born in Florida before his family moved to Oregon. When he was 3, the family moved to Alaska and spent time in Sitka and Yakutat before moving to a homestead at Eagle Island on the Yukon River.
Steve stayed out on the Yukon as a commercial fisherman, dog breeder, and trapper and even ran the Iditarod in 1980. He liked to boast that he was the youngest person ever to scratch from the Iditarod.
Steve and his family have hosted the Iditarod checkpoint for the Southern Route of the race at Eagle Island since 1975.
Steve became a private pilot in 1985, and in 1991 he arrived at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to attend the Aviation Maintenance program. He’s been happily wrenching on Super Cubs since.
He is survived by his wife Loni, Fairbanks; son Mike Hathaway of Fairbanks; and siblings Glenda (Chris) Klumper of Kettle Falls, Washington, and Ron (Karmon) Conatser of Rice, Washington.
He’s also survived by nieces and nephews Stephanie (David) Stroud of Salt Lake City, Utah; Travis (Linda) Conatser of Sitka; Tamara (Frank) Kyle of Sitka; and some very important people including Thomas Pauling of Fairbanks, Ben Harper of Talkeetna, Emma Epasitch of Talkeetna, and Grady and Atlee Allen of Casper, Wyoming.
Gunalchéesh Háw’aa
Thanks to the generosity and expertise of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska broadband department, Tidal Network; Christopher Cropley, director of Tidal Network; and Luke Johnson, Tidal Network technician, SitkaSentinel.com is again being updated. Tidal Network has been working tirelessly to install Starlink satellite equipment for critical institutions, including the Sentinel, following the scheduled maintenance of GCI’s fiberoptic cable starting March, 13th. CCTHITA’s public-spirited response to the outage is inspiring.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2005
Photo caption: Sitka High School’s Zach Carlson and Barrow’s Jake Voss get a grip on a loose ball, while Sitka’s Jayson Asnin tries to get in on the play. The Wolves beat Barrow 81-77 in triple overtime, Saturday at SHS.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1975
A catered dinner will be held after “Trial by Jury,” the concert presented by the Sitka Concert Association as a benefit for the Boy Scouts of America. Tickets are $5 each and reservations must be made by Monday.
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