Peter Edward Merry

Published by Daily News-Miner on Jan. 5, 2023. Captain Peter Edward Merry - loving father and husband to Renee, Alaska Bush pilot, jet captain, Alaska aviation legend, FAA Master Pilot, master guide, mechanic, fisherman and gold miner - filed his final flight plan and took off on his final journey on Dec. 26, 2022. He battled cancer for the past six years, always with a smile on his face, and slipped away peacefully, with dignity and grace, surrounded by family in Tucson, Arizona. He was 92. Peter was the third child and only son born to Edward and Ida (Whithey) Merry on Feb. 17, 1930, in Coos Bay, Oregon, and grew up in Seattle. He had two older sisters, Dawn and May Dee. He lived a life filled with adventure, exploring wild country, hunting and fishing, and flying. In his life he booked more than 37,000 air hours in an incredible variety of aircraft, most over the Interior of Alaska without any of the instruments for IFR, GPS or satellite communication pilots enjoy today. He married the love of his life and raised four daughters as the best girl dad ever. He worked practically every day of his life, from a child selling papers up until his retirement from Everts Air at the age of 86. He was a humble, kind, man who planned what he was going to do well in advance and packed as much into each day as he could. Peter's interest in aviation began early in life when as a small boy his father would take him by streetcar to the south end of Lake Washington where they would watch seaplanes take off and land. He was determined to learn to fly float planes, and that he did. During the World War II, the Washington National Guard enlisted boys ages 13 to 16 to train as defenders of their homeland. Dad was 14 when he joined the guard and learned to shoot. He earned two service medals by the time he was 16. The back of the Washington Guard Medal reads, "For service in defense of our nation and state," and the artillery medal reads, "Small Bore." Throughout his life he was an excellent marksman and knew the proper care of firearms and loaded his own rounds. He spent two summers (age 15 and 16) as cook on a fishing boat in the Gulf of Alaska and used the money for flight school. He took flight training at Kurtzer's Flying Service, Lake Union, Washington, and soloed on Feb. 15, 1947, two days before his 17th birthday in a Taylorcraft on floats. He earned his private pilot's license on July 22, 1947. His instructor died tragically the following month in an accident upon takeoff from Boeing Field. Dad never forgot her nor any of the other pilots he knew throughout his life that perished in their planes, and he always spoke reverently about them, as each life lost became a personal lesson to him. During the summers of 1948 and 1949 he flew spotting fish out of Petersburg, Alaska, and commercial fished for long-line halibut and seined salmon. He joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve and was activated in 1950. His unit, the 73rd, wound up in Chateauroux-Doels, France, stationed at a chateau they called "Chateau Mud." Following 21 months of service to his country with the U.S. Air Force Reserve, Peter used his GI Bill benefits to earn a multi-engine sea rating and instrument rating. In 1953, Dad was hired by Northwest Airlines and completed the airline's DC-3/DC-4 training. He then flew as co-pilot in a C-46 for Air Transport Association on a Civilian Air Movement contract out of Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington. He flew with Cpt. Milt Donner, who later became the director of aviation for the state of Alaska. From August through December 1953, he flew for Johnson Flying Service, transporting soldiers deploying to the Korean conflict from coast to coast in a C-47. From 1954 to 1956 Peter flew a 135 hp Pacer and a CH-300 Bellanca Pacemaker (nicknamed "Shakey Jake") on floats for Alaska Coastal Airlines. He flew Mail Run #40, which covered Hawk Inlet, Angoon, Baranof Hot Springs, Chatum, Tenakie and Tulsaquah. He also flew a G-5 Lockheed Vega on floats. He flew the Vega up the Taku River to Tulsaquah and throughout Southeast Alaska. He was hired by Sheldon "Shell" Simmons, who instructed him to memorize the coastline and every tributary while flying in good weather, so he would know exactly where he was when the weather turned. It was while flying "Shakey Jake" for Alaska Coastal in 1956 that Dad met his future wife, a beautiful dental assistant, Renee Evans, from Rampart, as he flew her out to the Aleutians for work. In 1956, Dad was hired by Interior Airways and moved to Barrow. He flew as co-pilot in the DC-3 and C-46 aircraft to DEW Line stations. He also flew a Cessna 180 and a float equipped Norseman, nicknamed "Black-Ball" because it had an 8-ball painted on the cowling, out of Barter Island throughout the North Slope. On Aug. 1, 1956, Dad was hired by Wien Airlines. He would fly for Wien for the next 30 years. From 1956 to 1957, he flew out of Fairbanks as a C-46 co-pilot, and with Jorgy Jorgenson in the DC-3 to DEW Line and ALICE Sites. He also flew a Cessna-180 and a DeHavilland Beaver on runs to Wainwright, Point Lay, Mead River, the Colville River Delta and occasionally over the Brooks Range to Anaktuvuk Pass. He also flew from Fort Yukon in the C-180 and to and from Kotzebue. Aug. 8, 1958, Pete and Renee were married, and he brought her to Barrow with him. She would often recall her first impression while stepping off the C-46 onto the North Slope as "What have I gotten myself into?" This was the beginning of a romance that would last over 46 years until Mom's untimely death in 2005. Throughout their time together, Dad and his bride made many dear friends across Alaska, especially on the North Slope, and marrying into the Rampart Evans/Mayo clan gave him extensive kinship ties. In 1959, Peter purchased a 125 horsepower Piper PA-18, 1294Alpha, from Everett, Washington, and he and his pregnant wife flew "94Alpha" through Canada all the way to Barrow. The customs agent in Eagle was startled to see them arrive on a frigid day in March and shook his head when he learned where they were headed! Between 1958 and 1960 Wien had him flying Beechcraft models A-T11, C-45, the model 18, and a Swiss built Pilatus Porter out of Fairbanks and Barrow. During that time, he flew out to ARLIS-1. ARLIS-1 was an ice island approximately 346 miles northwest of Point Barrow. Flying from Fairbanks to the North Slope, he traversed the high valleys of the Gates of the Arctic around Mount Doonerak and established camps along the Itkillik River and on the south side of the Brooks Range. He staked a parcel of land on Oola Lake. Dad guided hunts for polar bear, Dall sheep, caribou and grizzly bears and was master guide in the Itkillik Valley for over 30 years. Sen. Ted Stevens awarded Peter with a senatorial patent for his five-acre headquarters site at Oola Lake in the Itkillik Valley where he built cabins. Dad hauled most of the building materials for all their cabins with his planes or brought in on a Beaver on floats or an Otter on skis. In the early 1960s, he and Mom would spend time every summer in the Brooks with their two girls (at the time) working together on the cabins. Dad continued to fly the Bush for Wien in the Twin Beech, Cessna 180s, Beavers, and everything in between. In 1966, Peter was promoted to chief Bush pilot for Wien Airlines and routinely flew to communities along the Arctic coast, the Interior along the Yukon River, and west as far as Savoonga and Gambell. He flew Wien's first DeHaviland Twin Otter from Toronto to its new home in Fairbanks and was instrumental in getting the state of Alaska to bring snowplow equipment to villages and assuming maintenance of the runways at Ruby, Nulato, Huslia and Kaltag, greatly improving the safety of Bush flying in the Interior of Alaska. In 1968 he traveled to Belfast, Ireland, and flew back a turbine-powered Short's Skyvan for Wien. In 1969 he received a rating and captain's check in the F27-227. He flew as captain of F27-227 on runs to villages and DEW line sites around the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean coast as well as in Southeast Alaska. He flew as captain on the F27 from 1970 through 1974, most often with Cliff Everts as co-pilot, on the Fairbanks-Nome-St. Lawrence Island runs. They enjoyed each other's company and would often take their children along with them in the jump seat. In 1975 he earned a type rating and captain's check in the Boeing 737 and type rating and captain's check in the Boeing 727 in 1981. In 1976, Wien moved their jet crews to Anchorage, and Dad and Mom bought a house off O'Malley. Their home in Anchorage was always filled with family and friends. Peter flew as a captain in BO-737 and BO-727 for Wien, flying routes to Barrow, Dead Horse, Seattle, Denver, Salt Lake City and Phoenix until the company closed in 1984. He then flew for New Wien Airlines in the Boeing-737 in 1985. When Wien sadly folded for good, Dad went to work for ERA Aviation flying medevac missions from Anchorage, Alaska, in a Beech King Air 200. In 1990 he moved his family back to Fairbanks, and he went to work flying a C-46 for Everts Air. He built a beautiful home for them at Chena Marina, in which he lived for 32 years. Dad flew for Everts until 1994, when he moved from a pilot position with Everts to a repairman position. After over 40 years of commercial flying, at the age of 64, he began a new career. Following Mom's death in 2005, Cliff and his coworkers at Everts gave him a work family and allowed him to continue keep working until his diagnosis with cancer and subsequent retirement in 2016, at the age of 86. He was a "company man" for Wien for 30 years, and a "company man" for Everts Air for 26. Peter was awarded the FAA Orville and Wilbur Wright Master Pilot Award in 2006 and was honored by the Alaska Air Carrier's Association as an Alaska Aviation Legend in 2013. Dad's pride and joy was his Cessna 185, N4507Foxtrot. He bought her in 1968 and flew her until he couldn't handle the loading and fueling himself. He sold 07Fox in 2016, after maintaining and flying her for 49 years. He flew her across the state, hauling fish, moose, kids, groceries, watermelons and fireworks for the Rampart Fourth of July, building materials and people to and from Mom's village of Rampart and his beloved Brooks Range. He would tap her control panel gently as he throttled up to get on the step and whisper, "Come on baby." Peter was preceded in death by his parents, Edward Merry and Ida Whithey Merry Curtis; stepfather, Amos Curtis; sister, Dawn Kallen; his beloved wife, Renee Evans Merry; in-laws, Peter and Kitty Evans; sister-in-law, Elsie Lasiter, and brother-in-law, LeRoy Evans; brother-in-law, Donald Erickson; and nephew, Raymond Kallen. The family would like to thank Dr. Michael Cox and staff of the Fairbanks Cancer Center for caring for our father for so many years. A funeral service for Peter will be held at St. Matthews church on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, beginning at 1 p.m., with a memorial to follow at the Elks Hall at 5:30 p.m. He will be buried next to his beloved wife, Renee, in the summer of 2023. To listen to Peter and Renee's stories, please visit the University of Alaska Fairbanks Project Jukebox at: https://jukebox.uaf.edu/pete-and-renee-merrys-slideshow