Marie Evelyn Burnett, passed beyond the veil to join family and loved ones October 31, 2008 at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital succumbing to several cancers. She was surrounded by her children as she quietly slipped from this life.
Marie was a pioneer in every sense of the word. She was born March 10, 1924 in rural northern Minnesota in Green Valley Township to Oscar and Amalia Bjelland. She lost her mother a few months after she was born and was raised by her maternal grandparents Matti and Anna Pietila and their 11 children. Her older sister Norma and brother Franklin were raised by their dad, Oscar. Marie was raised on a farm, enjoying many Finnish and Norwegian traditions and foods. She attended grades 1-8 in a one-room schoolhouse, graduating in the Class of 1942 from Menahga High School. In 2007 she attended her 65th high school reunion.
Marie, her brother Franklin and sister Norma all got married in 1943. Marie married a handsome local boy, Wilfred Jacobson. The couple moved to California when Willy joined the Merchant Marines during WWII where their first daughter Cathy was born. Marie moved back to the Jacobson farm in Minnesota where their second daughter Judy was born in 1945.
After the war, Willy and Marie and their two daughters moved to Butte, Montana to work in the mines. After reading an article about Alaska, the young family decided that the adventures awaiting them in Alaska were too hard to resist. Willy “ Jake” landed a job in Suntrana working for Cap Lathrop in the coal mines near Healy.
Marie flew up later with the two girls landing in Ladd Field where the current Noel Wien Library is located. Marie enjoyed sharing her pioneer experiences of raising a family in the Last Frontier with her children and grandchildren. She often spoke about the kindness and generosity of Cap Austin E. Lathrop. After Cap Lathrop died, Jake and Marie moved the family to Palmer where Cindy (1954) and Jeff (1957) were born. After many years of working as a game guide and taxidermist, Jake was hired to work on the new Alaska Marine Highway System and the family moved to Ketchikan. After Jake died in 1969, Marie, Cindy and Jeff moved to Fairbanks in 1971, where later Marie married Everett Burnett. Marie loved Alaska and even though her travels took her to other homes in Idaho, California and Oregon, Alaska was always “home.”
Life was a school teacher to Marie and she was well versed in making ends meet and dealing with all number of hardships and challenges, from growing large vegetable gardens and keeping them moose free to canning wild game and fish and baking prize winning bread in a wood cookstove. Her children remember times that money was short but they weren’t aware of the shortage because she made life fun and exciting being so creative with the little that they had. Marie loved life and her children were her life; Cathy, Judy, Cindy and Jeff were the jewels in her crown of whom she was always proud. Her children grew into 13 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild who filled her life with untold delight! Buggum or grandma was a very hip grandma who always knew what was cool and her gift boxes brought great joy and amazement to all recipients. She was a generous, concerned, and loving woman and anyone she called her friend, was a friend for life. She never missed birthdays, anniversaries or other important events in her family’s lives. She would greet each day by singing good morning and Happy Birthday to the pictures of her kids and grandkids as she dusted their pictures. She said she was “washing their faces to get them ready for the day.” Kindness and caring was the essences of her existence.
The emptiness created in the hearts of her family is immense for such a tiny woman but our memories are filled with love. This shy woman impacted all she met. It is difficult to imagine life without Marie but we are grateful she is no longer in pain. The hole in our hearts is filled with the knowledge that she is with her family and friends in the arms of the Lord. No one will ever take her place and we look forward to the day when we once again feel her kiss and hear her ever present, “I love you!” She is a one of a kind and we are all better people for being blessed to be part of her life. A celebration of her life will be on Saturday, November 29th 6:30 pm at Holiday Heights.
(From Me, I wish I could be there....byebye, Grandmama....)
