David Belanger, the longtime manager of Catholic cemeteries for the Anchorage Archdiocese, passed away on the morning of Good Friday, April 3, after battling cancer. He was 77. Over the past 15 years he dug scores of graves and laid to rest the bodies and ashes of hundreds of Alaskans, while helping those left behind deal with their loss.
The Alaska Legislature approved Gov. Bill Walker’s nominee, Lumen Christi High School Principal John Harmon, to serve on the Alaska State Board of Education & Early Development for the next five years. Confirmed with a 48-11 vote, Harmon will fill Esther Cox’s seat on the nine-member board, which has a mission statement “to ensure quality standards-based instruction to improve academic achievement for all students.”
Last year, Scannell hatched the postcard plan — called Any Refugee — and then convinced his fifth grade class in Anchorage to participate by drawing pictures on one side, writing a message on the other, and sending them to refugee children around the world.
Cardinal Francis George had planned to be in Alaska this summer to celebrate the 25th year since his long-time friend Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz was ordained a bishop. That visit is not possible now as Cardinal George, 78, passed away April 17 after a long bout with cancer.