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When the Wtwains* met: an Alaska taleBy LENA ANKEN SEXTONCorrespondentWhen Charles Bunnell, president of the University of Alaska, met 18-year-old Lena Kaiser, he greeted her by saying, “Well, well, well, so you are Mr. Kaiser’s daughter.Behind that remark lies a story typical of a thousand Alaskan tales, when fate steps in and changes thedestiny of man.Kipling, who said “East is east, and west is west, and never the twain shall meet, was poetic but far from the truth. Often the two have met and as often changed the face of history.That’s what happened in the case of Henry Kaiser Sr.When the First World War loomed on the horizon, a young man of Prussian descent bade his family farewell and left the town of Ord-way, Colo., to enlist in the U.S. Army. They were never to meet again, for Henry had the German willpower of his straight-laced pa rents.“If you go up north to Alaska, his mother warned, “and you marry one of those Eskimos or Indians—remember son, you won't be welcome at home again.Henry found himself in the Army Signal Corps, stationed in various sites along the Yukon-Tanana River drainage. The big 200-pound, 6-foot 2-inch German soldier met and married petite Susie Sarah Smith, a dark-eyed Nenana beauty—Native to the core.Lena, the eldest, was born »n 1924.LENA KAISERAs a daughterSister Mary came next, and in 1932 a boy, Henry Jr., or “Bud, came along. He outlasted his mother when he was but a month old. Susie died of the dreaded tuberculosis. They called it “The Con” in those days, an abbreviation for consumption. That same year the Colorado Kaisers send word north to Alaska that his proud Prussian parents had both passed away.Those were tough years, but Henry kept his children together with the help of his good-hearted Nenana neighbors. Lena graduated from Nenana High School, proud of anaward for her fast and efficient typing. She could clip along on one of the old manuals at 105 words a minute. When she broached the sub ject of applying for a position as a secretary at Ladd Field, her paternal parent's answer was: No, I’ll need you to work at home this summer.The second World War had been declared not six months before and Lena ached to do her share: “I knew enough not to argue with myfather.“ she remembers, “but I had to protest then. Why can’t I go and get a job, too*1 What am I going to do. just stay here?“Yes, was the stolid answer. “I'll need to do work here at home this summer.”Once Lena accepted things, it was a pleasant summer Henry owned the power plant for the city of Nenana. They would pile poles 4-to 6-feet long into this old pickup and drive along inspecting the pow er poles. Those that needed it were “stubbed. That, she explained, involved her father digging a hole for the post which was set alongside a leaning pole. She was never allowed to dig the holes, but was expected to hold the wire tight around the pole and stub while her father nailed them in place. And she drove the old pickup, and that was fun.One August day she complied when Dad said. “Come with me to the post office. Lena. There are three boxes there for me, and I'llLENA KAISERAs a motherneed help carrying them home. While the family pickup sat empty in the yard father and daughter walked to the Nenana post office and returned home with three boxes the sizes of coffee tables.Henry dropped his two boxes on the kitchen floor and Lena followed suit. ‘ Have at it, he told her. “They are for you.Inside were all the clothes a freshman at university might need, including two (or was it three) for-mals for evening wear.“I've made arrangements with Dr. Bunnell for you to go to the university, the father informed her, “so I ordered the things I thought you would need for this year.Lena worked for the Extension Service on campus during school, graduated with a degree in busi ness, worked for several businesses, including Alaska Airlines, and settled with the Alaska Department of Transportation in 1960. until retiring in 1980, She and husband Frank Dewey have eight children, a fun set of grandkids and make Fairbanks home.And here is the surprise ending. The definition of “twains meeting was this:Long before Henry Kaiser met and fell in love with his beloved Susie, he was stationed at an isolated river Signal Corps site. It was deep winter, the temperature hovering at 60 below. A weary dog team emerged from the Arctic gloom and slowly approached the cabin. The teamster, half frozen, hungry and exhausted after hours lost in the night was able to stumbleto the door He was welcomed, fed and sheltered from the killing cold.The man. a traveling judge, never forgot the soldier from Colorado.“I own my survival to your father. he told young Lena Kaiser, “and I never ate a better meal in my life. Nobody can cook canned hash like your Dad.Lena Anken St'xton is an outreach work erfor the North StarCounilon Aging. If you have questions about the local Senior Center. or services available for seniors, callher at 452-1735.c' * '
Newspaper Details
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Fairbanks, Alaska, US
Sun, Jul 20, 1986
Page 35
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 13 Dec 2020
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