Sally J. Suddock

1946 - 2014

Sally J. Suddock, 68, died Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014, at her home in Anchorage after a long illness surrounded by her family. She was born March 27, 1946, in Chicago. After graduating from the University of Illinois she worked as a reporter at the Chicago Tribune in the late 1960s and early '70s. At the Tribune she was a member of a team that won a Pulitzer Price for uncovering flagrant violations of voting procedures in the March 21, 1972, primary election. In 1973 she moved to Alaska where she had lived ever since. Sally worked as a reporter at the Anchorage Daily News from 1973 until 1980 and in 1977 with her colleague Rosemary Shinohara won the prestigious Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished business and financial journalism for a series of articles the two wrote about construction problems with the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. Sally and her husband Warren were married July 27, 1979. After 1980 she worked at the Alaska Journal of Commerce, hosted the Alaska Business segment on KENI News Radio and served as executive director of the Alaska High Tech Business Council. She also was publisher and managing editor of the Alaska Bar Association's newsletter "The Alaska Bar Rag" until her death. After 2000 she began developing as a bead, metal and fiber artist, serving at one time as president of the Alaska Bead Society. She and her daughter Ariel sold their works at various shows and markets around Southcentral Alaska. She is survived by her husband Warren, daughter Ariel and husband David Phifer all of Anchorage; brother-in-law George and wife Linda and family of Anchorage and Seattle; brother-in-law John Suddock of Anchorage and family; a brother Robert Wagner and wife Anita of Syracuse, NY; sister-in-law Anka Wagner and Eric Neal of Philadelphia, PA; a nephew, James Wagner and wife Marika of Brooklyn, NY; the Dickows of Illinois and Wisconsin; David and Vivian Watts of Washington, D.C.; Ariel's father Tim Jones of Palmer; dear friends throughout the world; and her dog Paladin. Her first grandchild is expected in October. At Sally's request no service has been planned. She asked that in lieu of other memorials, donations be made to the Bird Treatment and Learning Center in Anchorage (Bird TLC).