Edward Yarmak Sr.

Longtime Alaskan resident Edward Yarmak Sr., 80, died Thursday, April 21, 2011, at Sunrise Mountain Assisted Living in Sterling.

No services will be held per Edward's request. Edward's ashes will be placed in a niche with his wife's in Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery.

Mr. Yarmak was born Sept. 29, 1930, in Hazel Park, Mich. He joined the Army at the age of 16 with a deceased brother's birth certificate. He amended his records with the Army once he was truly 18. In 1952, the Army brought him to Fort Richardson in Anchorage, and he loved it. He met his wife, Mildred (Milly), in Seward and they were married March 9, 1954.

He left the military at the end of 1954 and moved back to Michigan. The move lasted only two years, and by the end of 1956, he and his family were back in Alaska. Working out of Anchorage as a land and mineral surveyor he was able to travel the entire state.

In 1985, he and Milly retired to Soldotna, where he had a house built on Mackey Lake and has resided since. During his career, Ed worked as a land surveyor for the BLM, the state of Alaska, Tryck, Nyman & Hayes, R&M Consultants and Alaska Development Consultants. His last position prior to retirement from the state of Alaska was Supervisor of Survey Operations, Cadastral Survey Section, Department of Natural Resources.

He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Blanche Yarmak; wife of 50 years, Mildred Yarmak; and brother, John Yarmak, Jr.

He is survived by his son, Edward Yarmak Jr. and his wife, Nancy, of Anchorage; daughter, Theresa Packel and her husband, Steven, of Anchorage; grandchildren, Brian Yarmak, Craig Yarmak and his wife Meghan, Lesley A. Packel, Bethany Hodges and her husband Daniel. He is also survived by his brothers, Arthur Yarmak, William Yarmak, Jack Yarmak and Robert Yarmak; and his sisters, Eleanor Jackson and her husband Jack, Mary Jane Russ and her husband Dick and Irene Beylerian.