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Van F. Stogsdill Obituary

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Van F. Stogsdill

Homer, AK

May 17, 1935 - May 8, 2020

Van F. Stogsdill Obituary

Longtime Alaskan and Soldotna resident Van F. Stogsdill, 84, passed away Friday, May 8, 2020 at Central Peninsula Hospital. Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at the First Baptist Church, 159 Binkley Ave., Soldotna. Viewing will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday at the church. Pastor Keith Longo and Rev. Jim Hamilton will officiate at the service. Burial will follow at Spruce Grove Memorial Park in Kasilof with military honors provided by V.F.W. Post 10046 and American Legion Post 20. A celebration of his life will be held later this summer at the church also. Pallbearers will be sons, Mark and Bryan Stogsdill, grandson, John Daily, nephew, Ken Griffin, Jake Graves, John Tuttle and Brian Moore. Van was born May 17, 1935 in Denison, Texas. He graduated from Denison High School and also had taken some college courses. He served in the U.S. Air Force from Nov. 1955 to Aug. 1959 and worked as a jet aircraft mechanic. Van moved to Alaska in March 1964 and lived in Anchorage until moving to Soldotna in 1967. He returned to Anchorage in 1971 and remained there until 1995, when he made Soldotna his home once again. While in Anchorage, he worked as an Anchorage Airport Limo Driver and then went to work for Sunrise Bakery as a delivery driver in 1965. He retired from Sunrise Bakery in 1989. He then went to work for FedEx in 1990 and was a driver for them until retiring a second time in 2001. It was then that he drove school buses for the Kenai Peninsula School District. He was very proud of receiving a 10 year “Safe Driver Award” while driving school buses in Soldotna. Van was a member of First Baptist Church, where he was a deacon and adult Sunday school teacher. He also loved studying the bible, reading, carving and whittling, camping and being outdoors. His family said, “Van’s greatest loves were God, his wife and his loving family.” He was preceded in death by his parents, Ralph Stogsdill and Mildred (Grundy) Salier, and a sister, Ethelene Price. Van is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Ruby Eileen (Knutsen) Stogsdill of Soldotna; daughters and son-in-law, Vanessa Tripplet of Knoxville, Tenn., and Vonda Stogsdill and John Daily of Shawneetown, Ill.; sons, Van Mark Stogsdill and Bryan E. Stogsdill and Caitie Martin, all of Soldotna; grandchildren, John W. Daily, Lincoln Van Stogsdill, and Scout Wyant, all of Soldotna; brother and sister-in-law, Curtis R. and Christine Stogsdill of Denton, Texas; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Memorial donation may be sent to Birchwood Behavioral Health Children’s Cottages, 1600 O’Malley Rd., Anchorage, AK 99507. Arrangements were by Peninsula Memorial Chapel in Kenai.

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Events

Event information can be found on the Official Obituary of Van F. Stogsdill.