McPhetres remembered as gracious, hard-working
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A memorial service will be held Dec. 28 in Juneau for Steve McPhetres, a former Haines school superintendent described by friends and colleagues as hard-working, gracious, and savvy.
The memorial will be held 5:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Juneau, where McPhetres was a longtime active member.
McPhetres, who led the Haines Borough School District from 1969 until 1986, died Nov. 24 at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle of injuries from a fall while deer hunting. He was 74.
"He'd have about 1,000 things on his desk, but you'd drop in the office and he always had time for you. I marveled at that. Steve had a gift to be present, to allow time for people," said retired teacher Ellen Larson.
Nancy Schnabel was hired and laid off by McPhetres in the same year, following a drop in enrollment. "He even made that a pleasant experience. He was so reasonable," she said.
Gary Matthews, a former Haines music teacher and principal who also served as executive director of the Alaska School Activities Association, said McPhetres' legacy here included the swimming pool. "If it hadn't been for Steve, there probably never would have been a pool. He advocated, fought, got the money, and led the charge for it," Matthews said.
McPhetres also started the Southeast Alaska Honor Music Festival, stipulating that it would be held exclusively in small communities to promote music education in small schools.
Rector Gordon Blue said McPhetres sang as a cantor, helped with community events, and prepared food baskets for the needy. While some retirees withdraw from service, "with Steve it was like he was just getting started. When we arrived here he reached out to my 13-year-old son, sharing some of the difficulty of being a preacher's kid."
Stephen Thomas McPhetres was born Sept. 7, 1941, to Samuel Augustus McPhetres, an Episcopal priest and rector of Holy Trinity, and Josephine Margaret McLaughlin McPhetres, clerk of the Alaska Supreme Court. He graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School and in 1963 earned a degree in music education from Willamette University.
He sang tenor and played piano, clarinet, and most band instruments. Son Sam McPhetres said his father "could pick a mean banjo" and recently took up the ukulele.
McPhetres taught music at Nome High School from 1963-1965 and at Sheldon Jackson Junior College in Sitka from 1965-1967, where he met fellow educator Janice Lee Vallem. He needed a female chaperone for his choir's trip to France, and she wanted to go, so they married before leaving on the trip together.
They moved to Fairbanks, where Steve taught music at Lathrop High School and earned a master's degree in school administration from the University of Alaska. In 1969, McPhetres was hired in Haines to serve as principal, librarian, and cheerleading coach. He became superintendent that same year, filling in for one who left the job abruptly.
Matthews said McPhetres did well in all his roles. "He had a really good cheerleading squad. They won a lot of awards."
McPhetres joined the fire department, performed in local musicals, sang in a barbershop quartet and served as a Boy Scout leader. "Steve reached out to a lot of different groups and entities that weren't getting along very well and brought order to the school and pulled the community together," Matthews said. "He liked to sub for me in the band room, as well."
McPhetres played Santa Claus to a generation of Haines children. Vicki French recalled a Christmas Eve visit when she was 6 years old. "I just kept thinking that history had gotten it wrong. Santa wasn't overweight or had white hair. He wasn't even old. He was the twin of Mr. McPhetres," she said.
Businessman Doug Olerud was in McPhetres' Boy Scout troop when they traveled to the national jamboree in Virginia. He was a "great role model," Olerud said. "It was the way he handled himself. I learned so much watching him. He treated everyone equally well."
McPhetres left the superintendent job here in 1986, when he moved to Juneau to become executive director of the Alaska Council of School Administrators. In the job, he mentored administrators across the state and lobbied for school funding. He retired in 1998.From 2002-2005 he worked as an educational consultant.
He ran 10 marathons after age 50, including the Boston Marathon twice. He enjoyed hiking in Alaska and abroad, and after retiring worked at Northstar Trekking in Juneau. He sang in the Juneau community choir, enjoyed fishing, family and friends, and served as master of ceremonies at numerous events.
McPhetres is survived by wife Jan McPhetres, Juneau; children Wendy McPhetres, Bremerton, Wash., and Sam McPhetres, Haines; siblings Johanna Smith, Juneau, and Sam McPhetres, Saipan, Mariana Islands; grandchildren Owen and Emily McPhetres, Haines; and eight nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents and brother Dr. David McPhetres.
Donations in Steve McPhetres' memory may be made to Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 325 Gold St., Juneau, AK 99801. Cards may be sent to Jan and family, c/o Sam McPhetres, P.O. Box 1192, Haines, AK 99827.
