In Memory of Cal Center
CLINTON C. CENTER
Wasilla resident Clinton Calvin Cal Center, 74, died Jan. 22, 2000, at Valley Hospital in Palmer, following a lengthy illness.
An informal gathering of friends will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Palmer Elks Lodge on Bogard Road. Those attending are asked to bring a story to share. Mr. Centers ashes will be scattered over Crosswinds Lake this summer.
Mr. Center was born Oct. 9, 1925, in Deadwood, S.D., the son of Clinton Chester and Mary Jane Center. He attended schools in Puyallup, Wash., and received his GED while in the military. He continued his education by taking many college classes throughout his life.
Cal served in the Navy as a radio operator, and in the Army as a medic. He was stationed in Munich, Germany, when he met and married Eva Maiwald in 1954.
He came to Alaska in 1958, and retired to the Wasilla area in 1988 after living and working in numerous places in Alaska. He was a railroad worker, salesman, fisherman, fish spotter, generator operator in Cape Lisbourne, guide and outfitter, founder of Crosswinds STOL, bush pilot, and innovator of many aircraft designs. He received a governors commendation for his role in Alaska aviation.
His hobbies and special interests were art, being an animal lover, a mechanical tinkerer, and a lightweight boxer in the military.
His family said: He wasnt perfect, but he had a heart as big as Alaska. If anyone needed help all they had to do was ask. He loved challenges and had many in his life. He loved to spend time with his grandkids and enjoyed his Sunday morning breakfasts and cribbage games.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Oran, Roy, Bill, and Kenny; and sisters, Jackie and Marylynn.
Survivors are his family, Charles Center and Cheryl Weare, Kay and Mary Omer, Rod and Margaret Hanson, and John and Nina Shaw; grandchildren, Shanna, Jud, and Shane Omer, Kristen and Ricky Hanson, Sierra and Lily Shaw; brothers, Bud of California and Clinton Joseph of Anchorage; sister, Darlene Christensen of Washington; and numerous friends throughout Alaska.