Gail Bakken Johnson, 74, of Anchorage, Alaska, passed away peacefully at home on August 1, 2015 due to complications of plasma cell leukemia and post-polio syndrome. She was born in Waukon, Iowa and was the daughter of Lila and William Bakken. Her biological parents were Fred Terry and Eleanor Owen. She grew up in Hinsdale, Illinois outside Chicago.At the age of eight polio severely weakened Gail’s left arm and both legs. After she recovered the family lived in Argentina for three years while her father was on assignment for Wilson & Company. Juan Perón’s government was in power at that time; they were living in Buenos Aires when Evita Perón died. After returning home Gail graduated from Hinsdale High School in 1959. She attended Carleton College and transferred to the University of Alaska in Fairbanks where she earned a B. S. in Biology in 1965 and was one of the first women to compete in intercollegiate cross-country skiing in Alaska. She helped lay out the route for the Equinox Marathon, winning the women’s race the first year, many years before women even were allowed to run the Boston Marathon. Gail also designed the patch that still is the logo for the now well-known race. She was honored at the 50th anniversary of the race.In 1965 Gail packed her wedding dress in her suitcase and served in the Peace Corps in Chile for two years. She worked with the Mapuche Indians and married Nathaniel Goodhue in 1966. Gail and Nat moved to Anchorage where she taught P.E. and coached skiing at Mears Junior High. Gail switched to motherhood when Laura was born in 1969; Jacob was born in 1971. Gail added drawknife to her resume when she and Nat built a log home in Stuckagain Heights. With a view of Near and Wolverine Peaks across a pond, she recorded what she saw in notebooks: the first birch leaves, the day the ice went out, and the parade of bears and coyotes. She passed on her knowledge of Alaska’s flora and fauna to her children. She always had a garden, even taking her compost pile with her when they moved. Laura thinks of the compost pile as Gail’s first child. Their Taiga subdivision grew into a community of longtime friends and neighbors. Gail organized neighborhood Easter egg hunts and birthday scavenger hunts in Chugach Park next to the house. Later she painted wooden eggs that her kids cherished. Gail always said that her greatest pleasure was raising her two children. She also loved her dogs as family and had a continuous lineage for years.When her kids were in high school Gail fulfilled a dream to return to Argentina to help with a penguin research project in Patagonia where she became known for following one penguin all day and into the night. With her kids in college Gail taught at Anchorage Montessori School. In 1990 she married Eric Johnson. Despite what she later recognized as the beginnings of post-polio syndrome, Gail ran with the Exceed Running Team, competing in Pike’s Peak Ascent five times and Crow Pass Crossing. She also swam for the YMCA Masters Team and placed at the National Championships. She competed in many cross-country ski races including the World Masters and the Tour of Anchorage. While she was skiing on a Hillside trail in 1992 a great horned owl dive-bombed her, badly injuring her head. A sign saying “Gail and the Owl” appeared at the bloody scene and remained all winter.Prior to the advent of the Internet, Gail spent nine years searching for her birth family. She found she had sixteen aunts and uncles and over 80 first cousins. Gail was a member of First Congregational Church and sang many years in the choir. She was a voracious and thoughtful reader and a member of a treasured book club. Several months before her death Gail set up the first Little Free Library in her neighborhood. In 2000 she was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome. She continued to travel with the help of a wheelchair. The summer of 2014 she was diagnosed with plasma cell leukemia.Gail maintained close relationships with her friends and family, who were lucky recipients of original birthday cards that always just fit. She put concern for others ahead of herself. She took life matter-of-factly as it came and never complained about what happened to her. She found humor in almost all situations. During the week before she died she told a friend, “I’ve lived beyond my expiration date.” After signing her name the umpteenth time on hospice forms two days before she died she said, “You can’t even die without filling out paperwork.”She is preceded in death by her father, William Bakken, mother, Lila Bakken, biological father, Fred Terry, and biological mother, Eleanor Owen.Gail is survived by her husband, Eric Johnson; daughter, Laura Goodhue; son, Jacob Goodhue (Heather Kjerstad); grandson, Wilson Goodhue; “beloved baby brother,” Paul (Susan) Bakken; nephews, Todd and Chad (Jennifer); niece, Heidi (David) Long; “found sister,” Suzanne (Willis) Luedke; “found cousin,” Sally (Dean) Powell; and her compost pile.
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