Ann Sassara

From Hollywood to the Homestead, Ann Sassara, Alaska pioneer, loving mother and eager adventurer, hung up her mukluks on Dec. 9, 2010.

Ann was a true Alaskan in the finest sense of the word. In heart, spirit and deed she was one of those fabled people who helped create the friendly, hospitable, open place that Alaska has come to represent in the hearts of romantics around the world. In her 57 years in Alaska, her heart and her house were always open to family, friends and adventuresome spirits. Her beautiful smile greeted old and new friends alike. She was always ready to hear everyone's triumphs and troubles, to offer a meal and a warm bed when anyone needed a snug harbor.

Ann was born in Chicago, Ill., on June 29, 1933, to Karl and Arlene Baackes.

The family moved to Los Angeles, where she attended University High School, made lifelong friends and met her future husband, Charles Sassara Jr. Ann and Chuck married in June 1952, and while Chuck attended UCLA, Ann worked at 20th Century Fox studios.

Upon Chuck's graduation in 1955, they drove to Alaska and settled at Big Lake, operated the Yacht Club, homesteaded at Point MacKenzie, and built and named "Burma Road," which connected Big Lake with the Goose Bay. As remarkable as it may seem, in one short year Ann went from lunching with the likes of Clark Gable in Hollywood to skinning a moose at Red Shirt Lake. This quality allowed Ann to be equally at ease sitting on a log in a Central American jungle or having tea at the White House.

In the early 1960s, they moved to a log home on Bannister Drive that became the ad hoc neighborhood center and the site of many meetings about bringing kindergarten to Anchorage's schools and other community endeavors, including serving as president of the Anchorage Democratic Women's Club.

Ann worked at First National Bank and was cherished by her customers. In the mid-1980's, she operated one of Girdwood's first bed-and-breakfasts.

In addition to her love of Alaska, over the decades Ann developed into a competent ocean sailor, joining Chuck on passages through the Caribbean, Bahamas, Panama Canal, both the Atlantic and Pacific and Alaska. She was aways ready to cast off and unflappable when facing the challenges of the sea.

Blessed by Ann's loving memory are her husband, Chuck; her sister, Mary James; son, Charlie; daughter-in-law, Siri Moss; son, Richard and his wife Mary; and grandchildren, Tyler, Rachel and Annalisa; sister-in-law, Ellen Sassara; niece, Lisa Susich and her family; and nephew, Rick Sassara and his family.

Ann's service will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church Thursday at 7 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations to AWAIC at www.awaic.org are welcome.