Betty Gail Flodin

1941 - 2021

Betty Gail (Scholtes) Flodin, 79, died peacefully on Sept. 18, 2021, at home in Fairbanks, Alaska, after battling a blood cancer, thrombocythemia, for 25 years.
Gail was born in Sioux City, Iowa, on Nov. 6, 1941, to John and Dolores (Thoma) Scholtes, and was the youngest of three sisters (Dorothy and Joan) and half-brother James (Jim).
After Gail graduated with a nursing degree from the University of Iowa in 1964, the job board had a listing for a public health nurse in Alaska, and that sparked her sense of adventure. When none of her classmates were interested, her widowed mother, who was also a nurse, asked if she could come along. However, there were no openings for two public health nurses at the time, so they sent letters to several Alaskan hospitals and heard back from Seward General Hospital. In October of 1964, Gail and her mother packed up all their belongings and headed for the wilds of the Last Frontier. Then, in the spring of 1965, a public health position opened in the gold rush city of Fairbanks, and the two of them headed north. "It wasn't long after arriving in Fairbanks that I was introduced to an interesting man."
On Dec. 31, 1966, Gail married Larry Flodin. In their early years of marriage, they had two children and lived next door to the lumber mill that Larry co-founded with his twin brother, Jerry. Gail continued to have many adventures with her family, including exploring the entire length of the Yukon River in a 24-foot riverboat.
When Gail did things, she did things. If she cared about something or someone, she made it apparent that she cared. She marched in all kinds of weather for political issues and candidates that she believed in. Her joy for dogs was legendary. Her childhood neighbors in Sioux City knew to take injured animals to Gail because she always knew what to do. When Gail gardened, she gardened. She loved sharing fresh picked vegetables from her garden with everyone she knew. When she quilted, she quilted. Her delightful quilts decorate homes of her extended family and friends and are treasured. When she drummed, she drummed. At the age of 74, after taking a class at the Fairbanks Summer Fine Arts Festival, she joined the Cold Steel drum band, learned to play, and joined them in gigs all over Fairbanks. Even in her last days of life, she was practicing on her treble pan steel drum for her next gig. She was never happier than when she was playing with the band.
Gail is survived by her husband, Larry Flodin; her sisters, Dorothy (and Ron) Rasmussen, Joan Rulon, and sister-in-law Doris Scholtes; her two beloved children, Joseph (and Jeannette Otto) Flodin and Susanna (and Eric) Nancarrow; and by many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her half-brother, James Scholtes.
Gail is remembered as kind and loving, adventurous and inclusive, and her beautiful smile brought joy to those around her. She loved life and always had things to do!
An outdoor memorial service will be planned for the summer of 2022. Those wishing to express sympathy, please consider a donation in Betty Gail Flodin's name to the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival (www.fsaf.org/page/ways-to-support) and/or to the MPN Research Foundation (www.mpnresearchfoundation.org/give-in-memory/).