Franklin George Peters

Franklin George Peters walked into the forest after losing his battle with cancer Sept. 23, 2014, at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage.
He was 73. Formerly of Sitka, he was a Juneau resident.
He was born in Sitka on Jan. 30, 1941, the seventh and youngest child of William and Ida Peters. This distinction earned him the nickname “The Baby” later in life.
He was named after two of his uncles, Franklin and George Dawson.  As a child, his Tlingit name was Gunanaa. Later in life, he received the name Kishwoot, which had been passed down from his great-uncle Jim Boss (Whitehorse, Y.T.). He was of the Dakhlaweidee, the Inland Killer Whales.
As an infant, he contracted polio.
In his youth he had two passions, fishing and baseball. When he was a child, he could always be found fishing or playing baseball. As a teenager, when he wasn’t trolling or seining, he was long-lining for halibut out of a dory.
He joined the Alaska National Guard (Sitka) and then the Colorado National Guard (Denver) when he went away to engineering school. He later joined the regular Army and served as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, attaining the rank of sergeant and making 67 jumps all over the world, including Alaska, the Lower 48, Korea, Japan, North Africa, Germany, India and England.
After the Army, he made his living as a commercial fisherman and a truck driver. He met and married his first wife, Lula, and moved to Oklahoma. Their son David was born there in 1966. Later, he returned to Sitka and worked as a commercial fisherman, truck driver and carpenter.
He fished aboard the Pauline, the Atlas, the Icy Queen, the Pacific Pride, the Matie W and several other boats before moving to Anchorage and working as a cab driver.
He met and married Marjorie Gillian in Sitka in 1975. She preceded him in death in 2007. Afterward, he moved to Juneau where he was a fixture at bingo and at veterans functions.
He enjoyed fishing, hunting, fishing and gathering traditional Native foods as well as fishing. He really enjoyed fishing. He never passed up an opportunity to go fishing and his famous catchphrase was always “One more cast.” He was known for giving away most of what he harvested.
He was a fan of the Houston Astros. Later in life, he became a carver and made numerous masks, halibut hooks and other traditional items. He also held a 100-ton Master’s License.
He was preceded in death by his wife Marjorie, parents William and Ida Peters of Sitka; his brothers, William III and Jacob Peters; and by his sisters, Pauline and Bertina.
He is survived by his sister, Andrea Craig, of Sitka; nephews, Darold Peters, William Peters and Leo W. Gernandt Jr. of Sitka; and his niece, Mary Christoffersen and her husband Charles and their children, Charles Michael, Conner, Lena and Anastasia of Nikiski; son and daughter-in-law, David and Pam Peters of Arkansas; son Jim Gillian and his family; daughters Grace Brady, Debbie Gillian, Dolly Didrickson, Georgia Hopson, Marjorie Staub, Rose Tutiakoff, Sue Ann Humble, and their children and grandchildren.
He has numerous cousins and nephews and nieces in Whitehorse, Y.T.
He was the beloved Uncle Frank or Grandpa Frank to his entire family.
As was his last wish, his ashes will be scattered at sea near his favorite fishing spot in Sitka Sound and will become part of the ocean he loved so much. 

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20 YEARS AGO

January 2005

St. Michael’s Cathedral will celebrate Christmas Jan. 7 with the divine liturgy at 9 a.m. and vespers and starring at 4 p.m. The divine liturgy for the Feast of the Theotokos will be celebrated Jan. 8 at the Annunciation Chapel Russian Bishop’s House at 9 a.m.

50 YEARS AGO

January 1975

The IEA Parent Committee reports the holiday dance at the Centennial Building was a success. Mrs. Marcia Strand organized the event, helped by other parents Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Simpson, Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Lauth, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Bernhardt, Bertha Karras, Darlene Carroll, Joan Ellsworth.

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