Memorial Trees
C
Connie Dooley
December 18, 2025
Memorial trees planted for:
Larry Levearn Dooley
<p>Larry L. “Tom” Dooley, 82, passed gently from this life at his home in Palmer, Alaska, on August 31, 2025. Born at home in 1943 in Flat Creek, Alabama, Tom spent his childhood along the rivers and in the woods, fishing and hunting. At age 15, he left home and went to work in the oil fields of Texas; at 6’5” he looked like and did the work of a grown man. When he turned 18, he got his draft notice and joined the Navy, where he served as Crash, Fire, and Rescue Team Leader in China Lake, CA, and Kodiak, Alaska.</p><p>Arriving in Kodiak in September 1963, Tom fell in love with the island, its hunting and fishing, and the lure of commercial fishing, so when he mustered out he lobbied to be discharged in Kodiak. He immediately began a commercial fishing career that would span 50 years and include numerous boats that got progressively bigger, culminating in the custom-built 50” seiner, The Rebel; permits to fish salmon, halibut, and herring around Kodiak, Cook Inlet, Togiak, Prince William Sound; and tendering for the Nushagak River salmon run for over two decades. He was one of three fishermen asked to testify in the Exxon Valdez hearings, and he served for well over 20 years on the Fish & Game Advisory Board.</p><p>Tom loved living in Alaska, especially in the winter when he spent countless happy hours on his snow machine in the mountains and valleys of Kodiak. His exploits on the mountains were as well known as those from the sea, and nothing was ever too daunting to consider trying.</p><p>In 2013, Tom and his wife, Connie, moved from Kodiak to the mainland when they purchased Trapper Creek Inn and RV Park. As proprietors of this well-known travelers’ stop, Tom enjoyed visiting with travelers from far and wide, delighting in the random meetings with old friends that the business offered on a regular basis. They sold the business in 2019 and finally retired.</p><p>Tom is survived by his wife, Connie Borders Dooley of Palmer, Alaska; his elder daughter, Elise Dooley of Trapper Creek and Dillingham, Alaska; his younger daughter Imuya Dooley McDaniel and her husband Benjamin and grandchildren Naomi and Finley; his stepson, William Strode of Los Angeles, and his wife Lindsey and granddaughters Daisy and Remy. He was preceded in death by his son, Larry L. Dooley Jr.</p><p><br> </p>January 30, 1943 - August 31, 202501/30/194308/31/2025
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