Kehl's Legacy Funeral Home
http://www.legacyalaska.com
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
Gertrude "Gertie" Backford
Gertie, of Dillingham, died on June 12, 2019. Surrounded by her children, she ascended to Heaven.
Born August 24, 1924, in Iliamna, to Hugh and Marie Millett, she is the eldest of nine children who farmed and gathered subsistence foods. In Gertie's youth, they moved to Goose Bay where they remained until relocating to Dillingham. There, she married Benjamin Backford (deceased) and reared ten children.
Gertie is survived by her children: Linda (Frank) Greene, Ethel (Johan) Dybdahl, Alan (Blenda), Charles, LouAnn, Dinah (Chris), Beryl and Carl Backford, Valerie (Eric) Suttles, and Sherri Adams and their descendants; brothers Chester (Isabelle) and Clark (Victoria) Millett and sister HughAnn (Jackie) Knutsen. Billy Backford is the last survivor of Benjamin's siblings.
She is preceded in death by her parents; her sisters Jessie Delkettie, Julia Blair, Marguerite Wallis, Dorothy Anderson, and brother Carl Millett.
Home schooled by Hugh who taught her the basics, she had a fourth-grade education, but anyone talking with her might conclude that she had a higher education. Gertie's motto regarding her children's education was "no one leaves home without graduating from high school!"
Before marriage, Gertie worked at a salmon cannery. Following Linda's birth, she became a stay-at-home mother. To supplement the family's income, she babysat. In the 1980s, she was an advocate with SAFE, a shelter for abused women/children. Later, Gertie provided respite care to elders.
Gertie knitted, crocheted, and embroidered, making presents for her family. She picked berries and made jams, jellies, and Christmas bread to gift. Later, she and son Carl could be seen taking evening rides until declining health prevented this.
SAFE named Gertie the 1992 "Employee of the Year" and the Choggiung board chose her as the 2013 Shareholder of the Year.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, at the Legacy Heritage Chapel, 440 E. Klatt Road, Anchorage, AK 99515, (907) 336-3338, from 1-4 PM. On Saturday, June 22, 2019, at 2 PM, a memorial service is scheduled at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 446 Windmill Hill Road, Dillingham, AK 99576, (907) 842-5561.
LINKS
Anchorage Daily News
http://www.adn.com
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