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Submitted: 1/25/17 • Approved: 1/26/17 • Last Updated: 2/1/17 • R1172305-G1172305-S3
Dec 14, 1937 - Dec 13, 2014
Obituary
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Longtime Alaskan and Kenny Lake resident Marlene L. Roig, age 76, passed away at her son’s home in Long Beach, California on December 13, 2014, after a courageous battle with Parkinson’s Disease. Marlene was born December 14, 1937, in Vilonia, Arkansas.
Growing up in the Cotton Belt, Marlene was a tireless worker in her father’s fields and excelled in academics and athletics, winning numerous accolades and mvp awards for her skills on the basketball court.
After marriage, Marlene raised her 3 children at various military bases while her husband served two tours of duty in the Vietnam War, finally arriving in Alaska at Fort Richardson in 1972. Eventually, she moved to the Copper River Basin in 1974, settling in Kenny Lake with her second husband, an original homesteader and farmer. Together they built a thriving farm and home, he working on the pipeline and she driving the Chitina route for Browns Bus Lines. Marlene was soon involved in various community activities and projects. She raced snowmachines in the Sno-O-Ramas, judged men’s culinary abilities in the Bake-Offs, was a sought after dance partner at the community hall square dances, won shooting competitions, drove the first incarnation of the Bookmobile, coached youth hockey teams, supervised open gym nights, and solidified her reputation as a master gardener. She was an inaugural member of the local volunteer EMS.
But her most important work, she would always say, was her beloved school at Kenny Lake and the children of the local community. As a Reading Resource and Special Education Aide for over 25 years, Marlene helped countless rural students overcome learning difficulties and thrive. Always a proponent of hard work, Marlene would tell them, “sometimes it isn’t the result that matters most, it is how hard you try to achieve that success that will serve you best”. Her patience helping children learn to read was legendary, and many former students have never forgotten the person that helped them achieve that milestone in their young lives.
Marlene spent her summers farming, canning salmon and gardening, sometimes on a massive scale. Always the teacher, she enjoyed passing along her practical knowledge of rural Alaska living but mostly loved celebrating other’s achievements in the greenhouses and gardens.
Marlene was preceded in death by her parents, Beatrice and Thomas Stoker, brother Alan Stoker, daughter Tammy Lynn Morton and first husband Wesley Morton. She is survived by brother Raymond Stoker, son Alan Morton, daughters Sherri Harvey and Lori Dunn, 6 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
There will be a memorial service at 2:00 p.m. on June 13, 2015, at the Kenny Lake Chapel.
Marlene will be missed, but never forgotten.
Cemetery:
Kenny Lake Family Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place:
Glennallen, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska
Contributed on 1/25/17 by hawkinsdonna
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Record #: 1172305