Stanley McLane

Kalifornsky Beach Area resident Stanley S. McLane, 84, died Sept. 6, 2008 at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna with his family by his side.
Stan will be laid to rest in the family plot at Spruce Grove Cemetery in Kasilof. A memorial service will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Merit Inn in Kenai.
Mr. McLane was born June 25, 1924, to Archie and Enid S. McLane, early Kasilof pioneers, in Seldovia. Mr. McLane was raised in Kasilof on the family's Loon Lake Silver Fox Farm. After attending local school taught by his mother, he, his sisters and cousins went to high school in Bellevue, Wash., as there were no roads linking Kasilof with the Kenai school. They traveled to and from Kasilof on Alaska steamship, often several weeks in transit as the ship picked up salmon packs at numerous communities on the trip south.
Stan was a decorated Marine in the Pacific theater during World War II. He met his wife, Daphne, while attending college at Central Washington University on the GI bill after the war. Upon graduating with a degree in physics, Stan and Daphne returned to Alaska, traveling the Alcan highway for 17 days in a 1946 Willys jeep with two infants in tow.
Stan worked on Cook Inlet fish traps in the 1940s and '50s, then for the Alaska Road Commission before statehood. Stan loved fishing and got back into set netting after moving to Kalifornsky Beach in the 1980s.
He and his family homesteaded in Ridgway and started his surveying business in 1959. Stan was active in the business, serving the growing area, until he retired at the age of 80. Stan was an avid skier and operated the Soldotna Ski Hill for many years, teaching numerous locals. He enjoyed the family ski cabin and many late evening polkas at Alyeska.
Stan was preceded in death by his wife, after 50 years of marriage, Daphne McLane.
He is survived by his sister, Joan Lahndt of Kasilof; and cousin, Peggy Arness of Nikiski. He is also survived by his children, Michael McLane, Linda McLane, Sam and Susan McLane, Scott and Mari McLane; and grandchildren Cody, Lani, Ariel, Mavica and Stryker.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave. Fl. #17 Chicago, IL 60601-7633.
Arrangements are with Peninsula Memorial Chapel.