The Observer, September 2005
Council family loses former members
Two recent former employees of the citizens’ council passed away in the same week last month.
Janelle Cowan, who worked as project manager in the council’s Anchorage office in 2002 and 2003, died at home in Anchorage on Aug. 15 after a long battle with cancer.
And Bernie Cooper, who staffed the Anchorage office front desk from 2000-2004, passed away a few days later after falling ill at a camp in Kodiak.
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Janelle Cowan at her desk in the council’s Anchorage office. Photo by Stan Jones |
Bernie Cooper, on the right, with her daughter Raymie Hamann and a nice catch of salmon from the Eklutna River. Photo by Dan Alex |
Janelle was a former educator who spent much of her career in Dillingham, retiring in 1998 from the position of Director of Elementary Education with the Southwest Region School District. After that, she worked as an educational consultant and as office manager for the Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association before hiring on with the council. She was also an active volunteer. She served the moving image association after working there, as well as the Anchorage Museum, the Botanical Garden, the Bayshore PTA, and the Dimond High Booster Club.
At the council office, she provided staff support to the council’s technical advisory committees. She was a hard worker and a cheerful colleague, known for distributing packages of candy and other treats at holiday time.
Bernie, originally from Ninilchik, was a great-granddaughter of Joseph Cooper, the gold-miner who founded Cooper Landing. She had worked at Chugachmiut, an Anchorage-based Native consortium, before joining the council staff five years ago.
She was known to people outside the office – board members and volunteers – as the person in charge of travel, lodging and catering for board meetings all around the council’s region. Inside the office, she was known not only for her administrative skills and personal warmth, but also for making gourmet coffee and keeping the reception area stocked with chocolate candy.
“We’ll miss and remember both of these fine people,” said John Devens, executive director of the council. “Our hearts and thoughts go out to the families and loved ones.”