Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Family members and friends from Haines on Dec. 6 joined a crowd of about 1,000 others in Champagne, Y.T., at a memorial for Alex Van Bibber, adoptive grandfather to the children of Fred Chambers of Haines.

Van Bibber, who made many trips to Haines, was a legendary trapper, guide and musher eulogized as "an icon of self-reliance" who "may have been the toughest man in Canada." He broke horses into his 70s and ran a trap line until the end of his life, according to a story in the National Post.

He died of heart failure Nov. 26 in Calgary at age 98.

A printed eulogy said Van Bibber appeared in four films and served as guide for Robert F. Kennedy and Sir Edmund Hillary. He received dozens of awards during his lifetime, including the Order of Canada in 1992 for his service as a teacher of traditional skills and advocacy for aboriginal military veterans.

"Grandpa-Daddy," as he was known to younger family members, was a role model and central to life at Champagne, supporting villagers and fixing what needed repair, his eulogy said. He was a military veteran and had served as one of the first Canadian Rangers.

Van Bibber married Susan Dickson Chambers around 1945. Susan's son Fred Chambers and wife Barbara Chambers moved to Haines in 1967, and "Grandpa-Daddy" made many visits here to see family members, granddaughter Cheryl Chambers said.

Van Bibber also had many friends in Haines, including outdoorsmen Ron Martin, John Katzeek and Duck Hess, Chambers said.

Hank Jacquot, nephew of Susan Dickson Chambers, served as pallbearer. Shane Martin was named honorary pallbearer.