LeNora Josephine Quint Huntley Conkle, 103, passed away at the Fairbanks Pioneers Home on Feb. 7, 2013. LeNora was born near Hazelton, Idaho, on Aug. 10, 1909. She was third of 10 children born to Jesse and Olga Quint.
She had three children from an early marriage, Glen, Dick and Fay. LeNora came to Alaska in June 1946, with Clement "Bud" Conkle, both in their mid-30s. They spent several years in Fairbanks, then decided Tanada Lake in the Wrangell Mountains was the place for them. A surprise son, Colin Weston, was born in 1951, but that didn't slow them down.
They were soon in the guided fishing and hunting business, adding to their own log cabin (Tanada Lake Lodge) and expanded into guiding for mountain goats near Katalla, brown bears on the Alaska Peninsula, and polar bears in the Arctic. Many of their fishing and hunting clients came back more than once.
In the 1960s, they developed a 160-acre homestead on Cobb Lakes, near 57 Mile Tok Cutoff. They named it Eagle Trail Ranch because a portion of the old telegraph line/trail from Valdez to Eagle crossed their property. They both loved horses and soon had 20-plus to use in a new guiding area they called Wolf Lake, on the north side of the Nutzotin Mountains.
Bud passed away suddenly in February 1985, and LeNora spent the winters of the next decade traveling, visiting and writing five books about her life. In 1995, she sold Eagle Trail Ranch and moved to North Pole. At age 99, she decided to move to the Pioneers Home, where she resided until her passing.
She will be missed by all. Many thanks to the staff of the Fairbanks Pioneer Home for the wonderful care she received. It was truly her home.
LeNora was predeceased by two sons, Glen and Dick.
She is survived by her sister, Betty Richmond, of Napa Calif.; daughter, Fay Smith, of Spanaway, Wash.; son, Colin Conkle, of North Pole, and many grand, great, and great-great-grandchildren.
Donations may be made, in her name, to Santa's Senior Center, 101 E. Fifth Ave, North Pole, AK 99705.
Cards and labeled photographs received will be displayed at a celebration of life planned for summer. Please email chitina57@gmail.com or write Corri Conkle, P.O. Box 58400, Fairbanks, AK 99711, for more information.
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Published in Daily News-Miner on Feb. 17, 2013
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