[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 96 (Wednesday, July 11, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S7492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF ROSEMARIE MAHER

 Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in 
remembrance of a wonderful Alaskan, Mrs. Rosemarie Maher, the President 
and Chief Operating Officer of the Doyon Native Regional Corp. based in 
Fairbanks, Alaska.
  On Monday, I attended the moving memorial service in Fairbanks in 
Rosemarie's Maher's honor, who tragically died quite suddenly last week 
at far too young an age--53. Along with my wife Nancy, I want to 
express my deepest sympathies to Rosemarie's husband, Terry J. Maher, 
their children: Malinda and husband Jim Holmes, Warren J. and wife 
Angela Westfall, and Kerry-Rose and Kevin Maher, and all other family 
members.
  I also want to express my condolences to the employees and all of the 
nearly 14,000 shareholders of Doyon Ltd. upon the death of a very 
dedicated and talented woman, who successfully advanced the causes of 
both Doyon members and of all Alaska Natives.
  Rosemarie Maher showed uncommon grace and perseverance during her 
three decade career working on behalf of Alaska Natives. For 21 years, 
she served as a member of the Doyon corporation's board of directors 
and assumed the role of daily leadership of the corporation under such 
difficult circumstances in winter 2000.
  Rosemarie Maher began her involvement in Alaska Native organizations 
and public service while still in her 20's. As a devoted wife and 
mother, she helped to steer development of several organizations, 
including the Interior Village Association and the Tanana Chiefs 
Conference. In 1979, she was first elected to the Doyon Ltd. Board of 
Directors. Seven years later, she was elected Chairman of the Board, a 
position she held until her appointment as President and Chief 
Executive Officer after the tragic plane-crash death in January 2000 of 
long-time Doyon President Morris Thompson.
  Mrs. Maher was born in a fish camp on the Nabesna River near her home 
of Northway along the Alaska Highway in Central Alaska. As a child she 
was raised as a traditional Athabascan Indian, but as a young teen she 
was educated at Sheldon Jackson School in Sitka and later at East High 
School in Anchorage. After graduating from high school, she trained at 
Alaska Business College and in 1969 moved to Fairbanks, working for 
several U.S. Government agencies.
  During the mid 1970s, Mrs. Maher moved back to Northway where she was 
elected President of the Northway Village Council and helped form the 
Upper Tanana Alcohol Program in the Tok area. She also played a key 
role in the incorporation of Greater Northway Inc., the non-profit 
organization formed to administer local infrastructure and economic 
development projects in the region. She was a shareholder of Northway 
Natives Inc., the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Village 
Corporation for Northway, serving as the first President of that 
organization. She also was President of Naabia Niign, a Northway Native 
subsidiary.
  From 1976 to 1984 she entered governmental public service as a member 
of the Alaska Gateway School District Board and was a director of the 
Northwest Regional Education Lab, a non-profit, federally and privately 
funded educational research organization based in Portland, Ore. She 
also was a member of the Teamsters Union, working summers in road 
construction and hazardous waste cleanup between 1992 and 2000.
  At the statewide level, Rosemarie served as Co-Chair of the Alaska 
Federation of Natives from 1997-2000 and was a member of the Alaska 
Board of Game. She also served as a member of the Governor's Commission 
on Local Governance and Empowerment and on the Governor's Highway and 
Natural Gas Policy Council.
  Rosemarie truly did commit her life to the success of Alaska Native 
corporations and to the betterment of her neighbors and of all Alaska 
Natives. Her death is a great loss, not just to Doyon and her Native 
culture, but to all who knew and loved her. Again our deepest 
sympathies to her family and friends. She will always be remembered 
with great fondness.

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