Daily Sitka Sentinel

Service Scheduled July 2 For Will S. Hanbury, Jr.

Wilfred Steven Hanbury, Jr.

 

A memorial service has been set for Wilfred Steven Hanbury, Jr., a longtime Sitka resident who died here June 21 at the age of 69.

The service will be 1 p.m. Friday, July 2, at the ANB Founders Hall, with a potluck luncheon to follow.

Will was born in Ketchikan on Feb.  18, 1952, the son of Sarah Johns and Wilfred Steven Hanbury, Sr. The family moved to Sitka, and he was a member of the Sitka High class of 1970.

He later joined the U.S. Army, where he served in Germany, and played bass in the Army band.

After the Army he played in bands, and was with the band Nasty Minds in Oregon when he met Carey Armstrong. The two were married Jan. 6, 1988, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

They moved to Sitka in 1989, where he first worked for SEARHC and then for Sitka Tribe of Alaska before taking a job with the city in the IT department, becoming the webmaster. He held the job for more than 20 years.

Will loved music, and along with playing with friends he would entertain fellow city employees after work on Fridays. In 2011 he released a CD of Alaska-inspired songs called “Will Hanbury, Jr. Souvenir.”

He was vice president of Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 1, and previously served as treasurer. He was enrolled in Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and was on the Tribal Council.

Will liked making his friends and family happy, and his easy manner and sense of humor were much appreciated by friends, family and colleagues. He was a devoted husband and father, and loved his culture and his country. “We will miss him,” his family said.

Will was preceded in death by his parents, Sarah Johns and Wilfred Steven Hanbury, Sr.; and his brother, Thomas Hanbury.

He is survived by his wife, Carey Hanbury of Sitka; daughter Vivian Bishop of Jefferson, Oregon; daughter Melissa Presley of Chico, California; daughter Rebecca Bishop of Eugene; son Gary Bishop and his wife Sarah Bishop, of Woodburn, Oregon; son-in-law Joel Whitcomb of Sitka; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

 

Memorial donations may be made through ANB treasurer Liz Marcis at 738-2836; turned in at Saturday’s potluck; or mailed to Carey Hanbury at 3208 Halibut Point Road, No. 27.