Margaret Andrews

Anchorage resident Margaret Linn Janson Andrews, 67, died at 3:15 a.m. Dec. 17, 2009, at home, surrounded by her family.

"We suspect she left in time to be a helper to Santa, since she loved dressing as Mrs. Santa on Christmas to hand out candy canes to her fellow workers at the IRS," her family said.

A celebration of her life with displays of her quilts and favorite toys will be at 4 p.m. Saturday at St. John United Methodist Church, 1801 O'Malley Road. Contributions in Linn's name may be made to the American Cancer Society for breast cancer research.

Linn was born Dec. 1, 1942, at Livermore Naval Base, Calif. Her family moved to Portland, Ore., and she was raised in a Scandinavian community. They then moved to North Bend, Ore., and from there to Anchorage, where she graduated with honors from Anchorage High School in 1961. Linn attended Ripon College in Wisconsin and finished her Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics at the University of Oregon in Eugene in 1965.

Linn taught school in Tacoma, Wash., and transferred to Central Junior High in Anchorage. She quit teaching, began working in civil service at Fort Richardson, then worked two years with the U.S. Customs Service.

Linn married Richard C. Andrews on June 29, 1968. Linn was hired by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax auditor in 1974. She then went back to school for accounting and became a revenue agent. Linn retired after 24 years with the IRS in 1998. She was diagnosed with breast cancer four months before retirement.

After her mastectomy, she temporarily relocated to Seattle, Wash., with her husband and underwent an autologous stem cell transplant at Fred Hutchinson, where she continues to be the poster child for chemo-burn. She was cancer-free for five years; then, in August 2003, she had a recurrence of breast cancer in her bone and liver. She fought the good fight for six years until her cancer moved to her brain in September 2009. She underwent radiation therapy, then came home on hospice care with Hospice of Anchorage.

"Together we faced her cancer for almost 12 years," her family wrote. "She persevered as a glowing example of a happy, positive human being; she lived life as life is meant to be lived.

"In 2008, the Anchorage Quilters Guild selected Linn as quilter of the year; see the article at www.adn.com/life/story/518440.html. Linn was a member of many quilt groups, such as the Pointless Quilters, Anchorage Log Cabin Quilters, Mat-Su Valley Quilters and the Last Wednesday Quilters. She was and continues to be loved by many quilters in Alaska."

Linn celebrated her 67th birthday on Dec. 1, 2009, along with a pre-wake. Both were highly successful and joyfully attended by over 100 friends and loved ones. Linn played the perfect hostess with her crown of red ginger Hawaiian lei, a maile leaf and purple orchid lei around her head and pillow, and a double tuberose lei on her chest. All leis were flown in that day to give her that sense of luau that she and Rich loved so much. Linn spent time with each visitor and when all had left, she remarked: 'That was a nice funeral!' Her sense of humor and smile were infamous."

Linn (Kumama) is survived by her parents, Sven and Peggy Janson of North Bend; husband of almost 42 years, Richard Andrews of Anchorage; son and daughter-in-law, Darby and Megan Andrews of Girdwood; daughter, Molly Andrews of Girdwood; cousins, Carel Nagata, Liane Nagata and her daughters, Maile Guieb, Lauren Gaither and Madeline Gaither of Anchorage; cousins, Gayle Janson, Jeff Janson and Sue Janson of Oregon; godson, Patrick Thomas of Enumclaw, Wash.; and extended adopted family, Doug and Hazel Pyne and their two children, Daniella and Dylan (Linn's grandchildren) of Falmouth, Mass.; and adopted daughter, Raquel Lynch of Girdwood.

She was preceded in death by her aunt, Xanthia Carol Nagata.