Lois Shirley Perensovich

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Category: Obituaries

Created on Tuesday, 18 November 2014 11:12

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Memorial services for Lois Shirley Perensovich will be held at noon Friday, Nov. 21, at St. Gregory’s Catholic Church.

A potluck reception will be held downstairs in the church hall after the service. Interment will follow at the Sitka National Cemetery.

Lois, 78, passed away peacefully at home Nov. 12, surrounded by family members, following a battle with cancer.  She was a kind and gentle soul, a loving wife, mother and grandmother. She will always be remembered for her sweet smile and the great care she took of all of her family and extended family. 

Lois was born on March 16, 1936, to Herman John and Louise Sarah (Sutter) Parton in Arcata, Calif. She was raised on the family dairy farm located in the Mad River Bottoms of Arcata. After high school she attended Humbolt State College where she earned a two-year degree in business administration.

Through mutual friends, Lois met Mike Perensovich, who was also attending Humbolt State. While driving with a good friend, Lois stopped to offer Mike a ride at a time when his car was being repaired. Mike proposed to Lois at the Jedediah Smith State Park in northern California. They were married on Sept. 2, 1956, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Arcata.

Mike accepted a job with the Territorial Fish and Wildlife Service in 1957 and Lois followed him to Juneau shortly after the birth of their first son, Randy. She spent her first summer in Alaska in Yakutat while Mike was in the field. They returned to Juneau in 1958, where their sons Gary and Terry were born. They raised their boys on Fritz Cove Road until 1964 when they moved to Tee Harbor to “prove up” a parcel of BLM land they had purchased for $1. They cleared the site, and built a pre-cut log house from lumber milled at the Auk Bay Lumber Co., that included flooring from the AJ Mine buildings.

While in Juneau, Lois often volunteered at the Auk Bay schools, and worked seasonally as a technician at the Auk Bay lab. They adopted their daughter Cindy, in 1968.

In 1973 Lois and family moved to Sitka when Mike accepted a transfer as a USFS wildlife biologist. She started working part time at Sitka Community Hospital shortly thereafter, and later worked full time there as a purchasing agent, the job she held until she retired. She returned often after retirement to fill in for other vacationing employees. She really enjoyed her work at the hospital, and continued to work with the Hospital Foundation for many years after her final retirement.

In 1985, Lois and Mike adopted their granddaughter, Kari.

Lois was a longtime member of St. Gregory’s Catholic Church and helped regularly with fundraisers, social events and funeral services held at the church. She was also a member of the Pioneers of Alaska and served as president, past-president, and membership chairwomen for the group. Lois and Mike really enjoyed attending the annual conventions for the Pioneers, and often made a road trip to explore other parts of Alaska thanks to these events. 

Lois loved her garden, and spent many hours tending her flowers and feeding the birds and squirrels that also enjoyed her garden. She contributed to community gardening efforts, and highway cleanup with a group from the Pioneers of Alaska.

Lois was also a talented and generous baker. She touched many lives and happy tummies with her special Christmas trays and her Friday treats. She delivered Friday treats to both of her sons’ Sitka businesses every week for many, many years. Family, friends and customers all looked forward to this special goodie day.

Lois was preceded in death by both her mother and father.

She is survived by her husband Mike of Sitka, sons Randy and Lydia of Battleground, Wash., Gary and Tamara of Sitka, and Terry and Joanna of Sitka; daughter Cindy and Bill Maki of Albany, Ore.; and grandchildren Kari, Christine, Kameron, Kayla, Richelle, Natalie and Nicole.

She is also survived by her brothers Herman and Marlene Parton of Arcata, Calif., Richard and Linda Parton of Webster, N.Y., and Robert and Betty Parton of Eureka, Calif.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Lois’ honor to be sent to the Sitka Community Hospital Foundation at P.O. Box 813, Sitka AK, 99835. Potluck dishes to share are also welcome at St. Gregory’s Church following the service on Friday.

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