Obituary - Madge Allred

Friday, March 30, 2001
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

Former Juneau resident Madge Allred, 87, died Feb. 25, 2001, at her home in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

She came to Juneau with her husband Bill in 1967 from Valdez when he obtained a position with the Alaska Highway Department (now the Department of Public Transportation and Public Facilities). She returned to Idaho in 1980, two years after her husband's death.

She was born Dec. 22, 1913, at Oasis (now Teton Basin), Idaho, the third in a family of 11 children, and attended classes in a one-room schoolhouse. Her first employment was as a cook for the miners at the Brown Bear Coal Mine in Rexburg, Idaho. As a young woman she began a commitment to volunteer service that continued through her life.

In 1953 she married A.W. "Bill" Allred, who worked for the Bureau of Public Roads. The Allreds moved to Valdez in 1961 when Bill first joined the Alaska Highway Department, and then to Juneau.

She loved Alaska, and her family wrote: "She loved deep-sea fishing, clamming, crabbing and just being in the outdoors. She had a wonderful sense of humor and a heart as big as Alaska. There will certainly be a void without her here, but our lives have been truly blessed to have known her."

She and her husband fished the Golden North Salmon Derby every year. At the age of 85, on her last visit to Juneau, she still enjoyed fishing with her family.

She is survived by her children from a first marriage, Joyce (and Erv) Grafwallner of Arco, Idaho, and Dr. Orval Ray (and Fe) Mikesell of Aloha, Ore; and two daughters and a son from her second marriage: Jeanette (and Kevin) Luckey of Anchorage, Kim (and Lauri) Allred of Juneau, and Karla (and Michael) Covington of Idaho Falls; a brother and four sisters; 22 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Saturday at the Scottish Rite Temple in Juneau with a reception to follow. Friends and family of Bill and Madge Allred are welcome.

---