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Former Governor Attended Anchorage Covenant Church
JUNEAU, AK (August 5, 2005) - Service arrangements are pending for former
Alaska Gov. Jay Hammond who died in his sleep Tuesday at age 83. The
former two-term governor attended First Covenant Church in Anchorage.
Hammond served as the state's governor from 1975 to 1982, having
previously served six years in the state House and six years in the state.
Born in 1922 in New York State, Hammond was the son of a Methodist
minister. He was a U.S. Marine fighter pilot in the South Pacific during
World War II. Following his discharge, he paid $4,000 for an amphibious
plane and headed for Alaska, where he worked for a time as a trapper,
hunter and guide before entering politics.
During his time in office, Alaska's tourism industry was created,
fishery stocks were revived and the Alaska Permanent Fund was created
following development of the Alaskan pipeline project. The fund pays
nearly every man, woman and child in Alaska a yearly share of the
state's oil wealth. Last year, the payout was $919 per person.
"He was kind of a larger than life, quintessential Alaskan," said Fred
Dyson, a Republican state senator from Eagle River. "He was a war hero
and a man of great personal Christian faith. He had done it all."
Hammond is survived by his wife and three children.
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