Hesden D. Scougal 1921-2012

SCOUGAL, HULSE, ORFORD

Posted By: S. Ferrall - IAGenWeb volunteer
Date: 2/25/2012 at 21:37:26

H. D. “Scoug” Scougal, 90, died Feb. 22, 2012, at the Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home in Palmer.


Scoug was born June 25, 1921, in Shell Rock, Iowa, to Alexander Duane and Opal Leonard Scougal. He attended school in Shell Rock and Waverly, Iowa. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1940, serving in China and on the USS Lexington. He received a medical discharge in 1942.

After recuperation, he traveled to Alaska in 1943 to work on the construction of Ladd Field (now Eielson Air Force Base). He married Roma Hulse in 1945. They homesteaded on Badger Road in North Pole. He was active in establishing the Tanana Valley Fair. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and Pioneers of Alaska. He and his wife were well known throughout Alaska.


Scoug worked on the construction of roads and airstrips throughout Alaska. Gov. Jay Hammond appointed him commissioner of highways in 1976. More information about some of the projects he worked on is available at the University of Alaska Fairbanks “Jukebox” website under “Interviews” and “Photo Gallery.”


Preceding him in death was his wife of 56 years, Roma; three sisters; and one brother.

Surviving are daughters, Becky Orford of Juneau and Roma Lee Scougal of Big Lake; grandson, Adam Orford of Portland, Ore.; granddaughter, Ariana Orford of Juneau; brother, Calvin Scougal (Kay) of Newport News, Va.; and several nieces and nephews.

Kehl’s Legacy funeral home in Palmer is handling the arrangements for the cremation. Scoug chose to have his ashes interred next to his wife in the Mecklin Cemetery near her hometown of Oak Grove, Mo. A graveside service is planned in Missouri later this year. A memorial gathering of friends is planned in the Mat-Su Valley.

~The Frontiersman, February 23, 2012 (Wasilla, Alaska)

~posted by a friend