Lowell J. THORSNESS

THORSNESS, THOMAS, GUNNARSON, LUND, GREENUP, HOWE, WEBB

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 8/11/2007 at 13:47:54

Anchorage Daily News (AK)
September 15, 1994

Lowell J. Thorsness, 76, died of cancer Sept. 12 at Providence Hospital. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Central Lutheran Church.

Mr. Thorsness was born June 26, 1918, in Ladysmith, Wis., to Julius and Martha Thorsness. He spent most of his childhood in Vincent, Iowa, graduating from Eagle Grove High School in 1935. His bulldozing ability took him to Golden Zone Mine near Mount McKinley, then to Bethel. Later, he moved to Dutch Harbor. While there, the island was bombed and Mr. Thorsness volunteered to pick up the casualties. During the war, he became skipper of an Army Air Corps crash boat. When his military service was over in 1946, he married Elizabeth Thomas. They were married 41 years until her death on Jan. 16, 1987. After fishing in Seldovia from 1946 to 1950, they moved to Anchorage to raise their family. Mr. Thorsness worked as a heavy-equipment mechanic at Fort Richardson from 1955 until retiring in 1970. He became a Realtor and partner in Totem Realty, then owner of Viking Reality.

He was married to Shirley Gunnarson from 1988 until her death in 1993. Mr. Thorsness enjoyed traveling and woodworking. He served on the City of Anchorage Platting Board for a number of years. He was an active member of Central Lutheran Church, Pioneers of Alaska and the Alaska Creative Woodworkers Association.

He is survived by four children and their spouses, Jim and Julia Thorsness of Anchorage, Curt and Trudy Lund of Anchorage, Richard and Carol Greenup of Boise, Idaho, and Dan and Marilyn Howe of Kent, Wash.; nine grandchildren; brothers, Ray of Griffith, Australia, and David of Anchorage; and sister, Trudy Webb of Kasilof. Memorial gifts may be sent to the Anchorage Rescue Mission, 2823 E. Tudor Road, Anchorage 99507; Muscular Dystrophy Association, Alaska Chapter, 1838 W. Northern Lights Blvd., Anchorage 99517; or to Covenant House Alaska, P.O. Box 104640, Anchorage 99510. Local arrangements were handled by Evergreen Memorial Chapel.