[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 68 (Friday, May 20, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1035]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING THE LIFE OF JON SCRIBNER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 19, 2005

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to note the passing of 
a fine man, long-time Alaskan Jon Scribner. Jon was from Juneau, where 
he had served as the Regional Director of the Department of 
Transportation and Public Facilities. In this job, Jon managed 
transportation issues for Southeast Alaska. He loved his job and did it 
well; he will be badly missed by his many friends and co-workers in 
Juneau.
  Scribner, 63, died May 12, 2005 at elevation 3,100 feet, in an 
accidental fall while returning from a successful climb of Mount 
Stroller White near Juneau.
  He was born March 1, 1942, in San Francisco, California and was 
raised in Weed, California. Jon majored in civil engineering and played 
basketball at the University of California Davis. For part of his 
senior year, he had been a bench warmer until he entered late into a 
game when his team was so far behind that the coach figured the game 
was lost. Jon intercepted passes, stole balls, and single-handedly 
scored about a dozen points in less than two minutes. Davis won and 
Scribner started the rest of the season.
  After UC Davis, Jon earned a master's degree in engineering from 
Stanford, which had a distinguished program in environmental 
engineering.
  He married Kathryn (Kit) Duggan of Carmel, California, on June 10, 
1967.
  After Stanford, Jon served his nation honorably in the Army Medical 
Service. Captain Scribner taught at the Medical Field Service School at 
Fort Sam Houston, Texas from 1967 to 1969. He had been selected as 
faculty based upon his academic record and related credentials.
  Jon and Kit moved in 1969 to Alaska, and he worked for the Alaska 
Department of Health and Welfare in Fairbanks. In 1971, they moved to 
Juneau, where he served as director of air and water quality for the 
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. He was a senior 
official in the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public 
Facilities, serving as assistant deputy commissioner for design and 
construction and as director of the department's Southeast Alaska 
Region. He served at the pleasure of Governors Hammond, Sheffield, 
Cowper, Hickel, and Knowles. His repeated reappointments attest to his 
integrity and hard work.
  He retired from state service in 1997 after a career publicly 
recognized for professionalism and accomplishment. When he left the 
department, then-Juneau Mayor Dennis Egan proclaimed his retirement 
date, Feb. 7, 1997, as Jonathan Scribner Day in the city. The 
proclamation included thanks for Scribner getting a Thane Road project 
out to bid on his last day of work.
  In the legislature, the speaker of the House and president of the 
Senate signed a statement honoring Scribner for his contributions. 
``All Alaskans, both now and in the future, will continue to benefit 
from his efforts,'' it said.
  The couple raised their family in Juneau, where they enjoyed boating, 
hunting, fishing, bird watching, scuba diving, and hiking. They made 
frequent visits with family to the Mount Shasta area of California. He 
traveled Southeast Alaska with his 24-foot Bayliner cruiser, Mandy Ann, 
speeding family and close friends from one end of Southeast Alaska to 
the other.
  He is survived by his wife, Kit; his daughters, Jennifer Laitinen and 
her husband Todd, and Amanda Mallott and her husband Anthony; his son, 
Nathan; and his grandson Tyler and granddaughter Addison.
  Lu and I send our deepest sympathies to them in their hour of loss. 
We hope they are comforted by the memory of Jon's very full life, and 
of his many friends and admirers. I consider myself one of them.




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