Vintage

 

C. Keith Campbell, Chair

Campbell has served as SCLMBC chair since its inception in 2005.

A 38-year resident of Seward, Campbell has maintained an active role in
local health issues as well as on the state and national level. He is the present chair
of Providence Hospital Health Council Advisory Board. Prior to his retirement in
1990, Campbell was administrator and chief executive officer of Seward General
Hospital for 19 years. He also served as interim administrator of Wesleyan
Rehabilitation Center, interim executive director of the Seward Chamber of
Commerce, and president and board chair of the Hospital and Nursing Home Association.

 

He was president of the Seward Council on Alcoholism and Mental Health as well as the Seward Chamber of Commerce. Campbell is a past member of the Seward City Council and the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly.

 

Campbell was elected to a six-year term on the AARP Board of Directors in 1996. He previously served a two-year term as National Treasurer of AARP and in other positions as AARP Group Health Insurance Trust chair, and a member of AARP’s Health Issues Team that assisted legislative committees with health care reform.

 

Keith and his wife have three children, nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

 

 

Doug Capra, Member

 Since retiring from his teaching career, Doug Capra has continued to actively document
Seward’s history. He has published two books about Seward’s past, written
forewords for two books by American artist, Rockwell Kent; published poetry,
essays and articles about Alaska history; and written, produced, and directed a
play about colorful Seward pioneer, Alaska Nellie. Capra is also an instructor at
Kenai Peninsula College and works seasonally as a park ranger for Kenai Fjords
National Park. Capra is involved in several facets of the community: current and
past commissioner of the Seward Historic Preservation Commission, former Seward Planning and Zoning Commissioner, life member of the Resurrection Bay Historical Society and Iditarod Trail Blazers, member f the Seward Providence Health Advisory Committee, and Alaska Historical Society board member.

 

Capra has a BA and MA in English from Northeastern University in Boston. He came to Alaska in 971, teaching first on Adak Island before coming to Seward. He and his wife Cindy have two children.

 

Kim Hughes, Member

 Kim Hughes and her husband Carl have owned and operated Aurora Charters LLC since 1991.
While her children were growing up, Kim was a group leader for Camp Fire and
Bluebird Girls Scouts and involved in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. She is currently
president of Seward Community Library Association, board member of Friends of
the Library and a member of the Seward Community Resource Team. She served
as a board member of the Seward Chamber of Commerce in the mid 1990s. Kim
worked as a team leader on the Seward Community Playground project that was
completed in 2008.

 

Kim and her husband have three children and three grandchildren.

Colleen Kelly, Recorder

 Colleen Kelly, a two-year member of the Seward Community Library Museum Building
Committee, moved to Seward in 1998 to work as a journalist at the local
newspaper. She is now employed as an interpretive Park Ranger for Kenai
Fjords National Park. Colleen and her husband, Mark Kansteiner, volunteer as
members of the COASST coastal observation and seabird survey team. A
member of the Resurrection Bay Historical Society, Colleen also volunteers at
the Seward Museum.

 

Shannon Kovac, Member

 An 11-year resident of Seward, Shannon Kovac has devoted much of her time preserving the
community’s past. She is a member of the Resurrection Bay Historical So ciety and
has volunteered at the Seward Museum by writing grants, digitizing the museum’s
photograph collection, creating public displays of historic photographs and assisting
the museum director.

 

Kovac served seven years on the City of Seward’s Historic Preservation
Commission and is currently a board member of the Kenai Mountain Turnagain Arm
Corridor Communities Association.

 

Kovac works seasonally for Kenai Fjords National Park as the park’s Cultural
Resource Program Manager. She came on board the SCLMBC in 2007.

 

 

 

 Teri Lindseth is supporting the SCLMBM through her expertise as assistant project manager for RISE Alaska, LLC, providing construction management services. Born and raised
in Seward, Lindseth is also active in Big Brothers, Big Sisters and an active
member of the National Association of Women in Construction. The NAWIC
provides programs, services and activities to leverage women in the
construction industry, as well as fundraise to provide scholarships for children
needing assistance.

 

A member of the long-established Dieckgraeff family of Seward, Teri
married Zaramie Lindseth in May 2008.

 

 

Carol Ann Lindsey, Honorary Member

Carol Ann Lindsey and her late husband, Dale, were both born and raised in Seward and have
owned and operated a heating fuel distributorship for the past 50 years. Based
in Seward, Harbor Enterprises also does business as Petro Marine Services in
Southcentral and Southeast Alaska; Alaska Oil Sales in Soldotna/Kenai and
North 60 Petro Ltd. in the Yukon. In addition to her CEO duties at Harbor
Enterprises, Lindsey is on the board of the Seward Community Library and
Friends of the Library, a founding board member of the Alaska SeaLife Center,
and a member of the Resurrection Bay Historical Society, The Alliance and the
Resource Development Council.

 The Lindsey’s raised five children in Seward. Carol Ann still resides on
the original property first purchased by her grandparents and then by her in-laws.




Patricia Linville, Library Director

 Patricia Linville has served as the Seward Community Library Director since 1998. She is a
member of a variety of library associations and is the current vice president of
Committees and Roundtables for the Alaska Library Association. Linville has a BS
in Elementary Education and a BA in Child Development from the University of
Idaho, as well as a MLS in Library Science from the University of Arizona. She
taught elementary school in Kenai and Moose Pass and served as a long-term
substitute teacher in the Seward schools.

 Linville, her husband Bob and their three children, formerly operated a
commercial fishing venture in Prince William Sound.

 

 

Kerry Martin, Treasurer

 Kerry Martin worked as Community Development Director for the City of Seward for 19 years before his retirement in 2000. He served on the boards of the Seward Chamber of
Commerce, Bear Creek Fire Service Area and the Seward Bear Creek Flood Service
Area; and is a member of the Resurrection Bay Historical Society, Seward
Community Library Association, and Seward Iditarod Trailblazers. He was a Boy
Scout leader in Seward for 25 years and has volunteered and worked at the Alaska
SeaLife Center for several years.

 

Martin holds a BS in Forest Range Management from Colorado State University and worked 12 years for the U.S. Forest Service in New Mexico, Montana, Arizona and Alaska. He and his wife Kim have lived in Seward since 1975 and have operated a bed and breakfast for 18 years. They have one son.

 

A retired teacher, Sue McClure taught high school chemistry and physics in Fairbanks from 1974 to 1985; and was a chemistry lecturer and instructor for California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and Cuesta College from 1989 to 2007. McClure was born and raised in Seward and returned ere in 2007. She is a member of Seward Planning and Zoning Commission and the Kenai Peninsula orough Planning Commission; and a member of the Seward Historical Society and Friends of the Library. McClure is also a lay leader and musician at Seward Memorial United Methodist Church and accompanist for Seward Community Choir.

 

Joanie Merritt, Community Outreach Services, Project Advisor

 Joanie Merritt moved to Seward in 2007 after coming here on vacation and falling in love with the community and the environment. Merritt owned and operated a retail business
in California for 14 years and also has 11 years experience in sales and marketing in
the pharmaceutical industry. She is currently a managing member of the Grazing
Moose, LLC, which operates Seward’s New Summer Market. Her most recent non-
profit experience is working as a board member on the Seward Arts Council, which
includes the Seward Mural Society, Port City Players and the Seward Music and Arts
Festival. Merritt worked as a museum curatorial assistant at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History and received extensive library research experience while working on ecological research and publishing of data as a research biologist.




Karla Oates, Member

 Karla Oates and her husband Phillip moved to Seward in May 2007 after four years in the Middle East. She has been an Alaska resident since 1978, living in Fairbanks for 16 years and
in Anchorage for six years. Oates spent most of her working years as a legal secretary
and office administrator for a superior court judge. Her last position was a change for
her - Honored Guest Manager and Publications Manager for the 2001 Special
Olympics World Winter Games Alaska. Her current employment in Seward’s local
quilt shop gives her time to pursue the right side of her brain, working sales, teaching
classes and producing store samples.

 

Oates has been a member of the SCLMBC since May 2007.

 

 

Phillip Oates, Member

 Phillip E. Oates has been the City Manager of Seward since May 2007. He is a retired Major
General from 34 years of service in the U.S. Army. His active duty service in Alaska
included assignments as the Chief of Staff, 6th Infantry Division (Light), and Chief of
Staff of Alaskan Command. He also served from 1999 to 2003 as the Adjutant of
Military and Veterans Affairs. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology
from Louisiana College and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the
University of Missouri in Kansas City. He is currently completing a Doctor of
Business Administration degree with the University of Phoenix. Oates serves as a
board member for the Seward Association for the Advancement of Marine
Science, the non-profit corporation that established the Alaska SeaLife Center. His is also a lifetime member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Military Order of the World Wars. 

 

Oates resides in Seward with his wife Karla. They have three children and two grandchildren.

 

 

Lee Poleske, Seward Museum Director

 Lee Poleske has been volunteer director of the Seward Museum since 1972. During his 45 years in Seward, Poleske has been involved with several boards and organizations. He is
currently a member of the Resurrection Bay Historical Society, Seward Community
Library Association, Seward Iditarod Trail Blazers, and Pioneers of Alaska Igloo #9.
A native of Iowa, Poleske came to Seward shortly after the 1964
earthquake. He taught various subjects at Seward high school from 1964 until his
retirement in 1990.

 

 

Vanta Shafer, Co-Chair

 After occupying the chairs of mayor, vice mayor and councilmember for the City of Seward for a total of 10 years, Vanta Shafer is now directing her energies as owner and operator
of Cover To Cover Books. But that doesn’t deter her from community service. A
former Seward Safe Kids coordinator, Shafer currently serves on the boards of the
Seward Library Association and the Seward Senior Center. She is also a member of
the Seward Chamber of Commerce marketing committee, Y South Health
Association, and the Seward Community Foundation. A resident of Seward since
1991, Shafer graduated with a BA from East Tennessee State University.

 

Shafer and her husband, Bob, have been married for 35 years and have three children and four grandchildren.




Mary Tougas, Co-Vice Chair

 Mary Tougas has accomplished finding a balance between volunteer work and being a business owner. An active volunteer in the local school system and treasurer of the Seward
Tsunami Swim Club, Mary and her husband Tom own and operate Renown Tours
and Major Marine Tours in Seward. The couple also operates a fleet of boats for
lease in Southeast Alaska, Washington and Hawaii, as well as a bus transportation
company in Juneau. As former owners of Kenai Fjords Tours, the Tougas’ opened
the first retail licensee store for Helly Hansen in the state. Mary continues to be
involved in retail purchasing for several gift shops in Seward and Juneau.

 

Mary was born and raised on Kodiak and attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The
Tougas’ have been married 30 years and have four children and one grandchild.

 

 

 Dorothy Urbach’s list of contributions to the Seward community reads similar to a listing in
Who’s Who. In addition to owning and operating Urbach’s Clothier, a fourth-
generation family-owned business, Urbach has served as publicity chair of the
Seward Silver Salmon Derby for 30 years, (in which she hooked the biggest fish in
1979), was president of the Seward Community Library for 25 years, and a board
member for eight years of both Seward General Hospital and Weslyan Nursing
Home, as well as past president. She won the first Governor Woman of the Year
award during the Hammond administration, served as Goodwill Ambassador for
Seward, Greeter for the City of Seward, and with her husband, entertained and housed governors, senators and other dignitaries throughout her years in Seward. Urbach and her husband were esponsible for keeping Seward residents informed following the devastating 1964 earthquake by making daily radio broadcasts from their store regarding road openings, shelter locations, etc.

 

Always one to foster Seward’s economic status, Urbach served two terms on the Marine
Highway Task Force beginning in 1990 and two terms on the Alaska Tourism Board Task Force in the 980s. She has served on the Alaska Railroad Board since 1990.

 

 

 Madelyn Walker has applied her consulting and writing expertise to a vast array of topics. A
former education administrator and college instructor, Walker completed the first
Seward Historic Preservation Plan and developed and wrote interpretive text for
30 signs along the Seward bike path. She published “A Natural History Guide to the
Eastern Kenai Peninsula,” The People Left Behind, Early Peoples of the Kenai Coast,
and “Beachwalk: High impact experience, low impact beach walking tips for
teachers.” As an environmental and marine science educator/writer, Walker
recently revised the new Commercial Fishing Safety Vessel Digest, which will be published by the U.S. Coast Guard, and served as a member of the National Research Councils’ Committee of Fishing Vessel Safety, which published Fishing Vessel Safety: Blueprint for a National Program.

 

Walker stated she “came to Seward on a beautiful August day in 1978 to visit someone” and
never left. She and her husband Dan, who was selected as Alaska Teacher of the Year in 1999, have two children. The Walkers also own and operate a bed and breakfast.




Jerry L. Woods, Member

 Jerry Woods became a member of the SCLMBC in the fall of 2008. He is currently involved in property development as administrator of Shepherd Group LLC in Seward. Woods
served as treasurer for Wesley Nursing and Rehabilitation Board of Directors as
wells as project manager on a two-year engineering study of the long-term care
facility in Seward to determine the economics of renovation. Woods was also a
member of the legislative lobby committee for Wesley in 2001.

 Woods first came to Seward in 1953, graduating from Seward High School
in 1956. He and his wife, Peggy, returned to Alaska in 1996 and built and operated
Bell-In-The-Woods Bed and Breakfast for eight years.