Celebration of life to be held for Allen
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TweetThere will be a local celebration of life for former resident Geraldine Ann Albecker Allen, known as “Gal Gal,” on Sept. 1. Terri Remeto said her mother died of natural causes following a brief illness at her winter home in Apache Junction, Ariz. She was 70.
Allen was born Oct. 4, 1947 in Haines to Minnie Virginia Hayes Albecker and Leo Robert Albecker Sr.
She was an eagle brown bear kaagwaantaan from the brown bear house in Klukwan. Her Tlingit name was Chooch Tlaa.
“She enjoyed so many things of growing up in Haines. Commercial and subsistence fishing with her father, brothers, and friends. Berry picking, learning and living the traditional way of life, running around with friends, sneaking crab apples from neighborhood trees,” Remeto said.
Allen moved to Anchorage as a young adult with two small children, and worked on the North Slope before settling in Washington where she worked for 30 years as a brazier (a type of welder) at an aircraft parts manufacturing plant in Sea-Tac. That’s where she met her husband, Ken. They were together more than 35 years and were married for the last 23. Remeto said he was “the love of her life”. They enjoyed boating in the San Juan Islands, vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, and their winter home in Arizona.
She returned to Haines for regular visits and special occasions.
Christy Fowler said her friend was “very smart, spunky, and had a great sense of humor.”
Allen was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Leo Jr. (Sonny) Albecker and Larry Albecker, and nephew Justin Albecker.
She is survived by siblings Billy (Hattie) Albecker, Gerald (Teresa) Albecker, and Beatrice (Alex) Wright; children Jonas Hepler, Terri (Patrick) Remeto, and Angela (Earl) Parker; grandchildren James Blilie, Kristopher Hepler Nelson, Coty Hepler, Dalton Remeto, Logan Remeto, and Jasmine Parker; four great grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins from the Hayes, Williams, Young, and Kasko families.
