Lionel (Pete) Stearns
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WASILLA, AK
Sad to announce the passing of Lionel (Pete) Stearns on February 11th, 2017 in Wasilla, Alaska. He was born in Malta, Montana on July 5th, 1927 and was one of five children born of the union of Kenneth Stearns and Beatrice Smith. His mother died when he was young and his father remarried Arlene Thingstad and seven more brothers and sisters resulted from that union, Ken, Gloria, Anna, Bill, Hattie, Mike and Joe. Pete married Hazel Jones in 1946 and six children were born of that union, a son Allen who died in infancy, another son Darrell, who died in a car accident in 1974, a daughter Laurie who currently lives in Wasilla, Alaska, another daughter Donna who died of cancer in 2003, a daughter Judy who resides in Pawhuska, Oklahoma and a daughter Dale who died in infancy. Pete and Hazel spent some time early in their union doing migrant fruit picking in the state of Washington before building a home on the North side of Chinook where he earned his living trapping and doing miscellaneous automotive repair services. In the mid 60's he bought a wheat farm south of Chinook. He may be remembered by some in Chinook by his coyote hunting on snowmobiles. He continued trapping and often took his furs to Seattle to sell. Pete even tried his hand in raising foxes and dogs to hunt coyotes. He was always active in the Montana Demolition Derby circuit and won many trophies. In the late 70's he sharecropped for Pitman to break 3000 acres of virgin land in the Missouri breaks for a wheat crop. He brought the crop in but experienced heart problems and, at age 51, had to have open heart surgery. He sold his farm and moved to Zurich, Montana and worked as a rural mailman till the early 90's when he had another heart attack. He sold his holdings in Zurich and moved with Hazel to Alaska. He went to Nome dredging for gold in 1992 through 1995 and shared his adventures with his friends who were still in Chinook. He held these friends dear in his heart. He made jewelry when he became limited physically. Pete and Hazel stayed active through 2001 living with his daughter. In 2001 they moved into a senior living home till 2005 when Hazel had a debilitating stroke. They lived in assisted living near their children until Hazel passed away in 2015. Pete stayed engaged with the people around him even while dealing with many infirmities. His sons Allen and Darrell, daughters Donna and Dale, brothers Gay and Mike and sisters Ramona, Bunny, Peggy and Hattie as well as a granddaughter Gaynell preceded him in death. He is survived by his daughters Laurie and Judy, brothers Kenneth, Bill, and Joe and his sisters Gloria and Anna as well as 7 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren and one great great grandchild as well as numerous nieces and nephews. His was a life well lived and nothing meant more to him than his family and friends. He will be missed.
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