[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 25, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1044-S1045]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING MICHAEL A. STEPOVICH

 Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I wish to give tribute to 
Alaska's last Territorial Governor, Michael A. Stepovich, who 
unfortunately died early on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, at the age of 94.
  Mr. Stepovich was a war veteran, a legislator, a local government 
leader, the first Governor of the Territory born in Alaska and the last 
prior to statehood in 1957 and 1958, a lawyer, a civic leader, 
businessman and a true statesman. He also was a good man, and great 
friend to my entire family. When my family moved to Fairbanks, AK in 
the early 1970s, Mike and his wife Mathilda and their children were our 
earliest and closest friends. The Stepovics raised a large and loving 
family, and while most Alaskans will remember Mike as an Alaskan 
statesman, I will always think of him first as a true family man.
  Michael was born in Fairbanks on March 12, 1919, the son of Michael 
A. and Olga S. Stepovich. He graduated in 1940 from Gonzaga 
University--which in 1966 honored him with the DeSmet medal for being 
an ``outstanding graduate and layman.'' He earned a law degree from 
Notre Dame in 1943, and after service in the Navy, he completed 
postgraduate work at Santa Clara College in 1946.
  Stepovich opened a private law practice in Fairbanks in 1948, serving 
as the city attorney of Fairbanks from 1950 to 1952, as a delegate to 
the Territorial House of Representatives from 1951-1953 and in the 
Territorial Senate from 1953-1957. While in the Senate he served as 
minority leader and was a strong supporter of statehood. He worked 
tirelessly on the 1956 referendum for statehood. President Dwight 
Eisenhower appointed Stepovich to be Territorial Governor after 
Alaskans went to the ballot box in support of joining the Union. He was 
to be Alaska's last Territorial Governor--within a year Congress would 
approve Alaska as the 49th State.

[[Page S1045]]

  After statehood, Governor Stepovich turned his attention to 
representing Alaska in the U.S. Senate. He lost his bid in 1958 to be 
one of Alaska's first Senators to Ernest Gruening, who had served in 
Washington as one of Alaska's fir two ``shadow'' Senators since 1956. 
Stepovich later ran and lost races to be Governor, first against 
William A. Egan and later against Walter Hickel. But his defeats did 
not diminish his interest in or dedication to Alaska. And he remained 
especially committed to Fairbanks and the rest of the Interior region.
  From chairing the Fairbanks Planning and Zoning Committee in 1952 and 
1953, through the 1980s, Mike Stepovich was always ready to serve to 
better Alaska. He was active in the Pioneers of Alaska, the Elks, 
Eagles, American Legion and the Tanana Valley Bar Association. And that 
was not always easy given that he was a devoted family man to his wife 
Matilda and 13 children: Antonia, Maria Theresa, Michael, Peter, 
Christopher, Dominic, Theodore John, Nicholas Vincent, James, Laura, 
Nada, Andrea and Melissa. All 13 of the Stepovich children were able to 
be together with Mike before he passed.
  While I could tell many stories about Mike, let me just say to my 
fellow Senators that Mike Stepovich was a man who would have given the 
shirt off his back to help a neighbor in need. He was one of the most 
honorable, decent, and wise men I have had the distinct honor to know 
in my life. I can only offer my sincere condolences to his family upon 
his death, just a month shy of his 95th birthday.
  Alaska is a much better place because of Mike Stepovich. Those of us 
who were lucky enough to know him understand how great a loss this is 
for Alaska. We will always remember his efforts that helped make 
Alaska, and his hometown of Fairbanks, what it is today.

                          ____________________