[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 169 (Thursday, October 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6812-S6813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING ROY H. MADSEN

 Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, many Alaskans have contributed 
enormously to the development of the Territory of Alaska through 
Statehood and beyond with their special life skills, talents, courage, 
and insights into the world around them. Among that distinguished group 
was a very special man, Roy H. Madsen of Kodiak, AK. Roy Madsen was 
known for so many things. Among them, he was the first Alaska Native to 
serve as a judge of the Alaska Superior Court. On the eve of the Alaska 
Federation of Natives convention, I proudly honor his remarkable life 
that spanned 94 years from March 15, 1923 to December 26, 2017.
  Roy was born in the village of Kanatak, located just across Shelikoff 
Straits from the Kodiak archipelago near the Valley of Ten Thousand 
Smokes and Mount Katmai in the Katmai National Monument on the Alaskan 
Peninsula, an area which, in 1980, was expanded and renamed the Katmai 
National Park and Preserve.
  Roy was one of eight children. His father, Charles Madsen, was a 
Danish immigrant who established a trading post at Kanatak. His mother, 
Alaska Native Mary (Metrokin) was a homemaker. The Madsens returned to 
his mother's hometown of Kodiak where, when Roy was only 4 years old, 
she passed. Roy and his siblings were raised in Kodiak by their dad and 
their stepmother, Alexandra Churnoff Madsen. Roy's love for his 
heritage and for the island remained centerpieces throughout his life. 
A member of the Sun'aq Tribe of Kodiak, he lived there for most of his 
life.
  Blessed with his mother's rich, Alaska Native Sugpiaq-Koniagmiut-
Alutiiq-Russian subsistence culture and fortified by his father's 
immigrant mindset of courage and ambition, Roy lived his life setting 
goals and pursuing them, most often with success.
  After graduating from Kodiak High School in a class of six, he 
entered Oregon State University in 1941. In 1943, he left college and 
enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served as a gunner and navigator on 
Patrol Torpedo Boat PT 190, the ``Jack of Diamonds'' in the South 
Pacific during World War II. While serving in the Navy in the 
Philippines and New Guinea, Roy's unit was awarded campaign medals and 
two battle stars.
  It was after WWII that Roy and his first wife Katharine (Walters) and 
family moved back to Kodiak in 1946. To support his growing family, he 
spent a couple of summers fishing in Bristol Bay on a Columbia River 
double ender by sail and became a registered Alaska bear guide, working 
with his father Captain Charles Madsen, guiding clients on Kodiak brown 
bear hunts.
  The Madsens then moved to Oregon, where Roy finished his bachelor's 
degree and entered Northwestern College of Law, today the Lewis & Clark 
Law School, where he received his juris doctor degree in 1953. He 
served as assistant district attorney and practiced law in Oregon 
before, in 1961, returning with his family to Kodiak. Over the years, 
the Madsen clan grew to include seven children: Elizabeth, Mary Jane, 
Charles, Charlotte, Jacqueline, Guy--deceased--stepdaughter Shannon, 13 
grandchildren, and 4 great-grand children.
  Roy Madsen immersed himself in Kodiak's thriving civic and cultural 
life. In the 1960s, he established a law firm, was the Kodiak city 
attorney, and the Kodiak Island Borough attorney. During this period, 
his commitment to his heritage grew and became legendary. He helped 
establish the Kodiak Area Native Association KANA, serving as its first 
vice president. His niece, Rita Stevens, wife of State Senator Gary 
Stevens, later furthered the work Roy had begun by helping to lead KANA 
for nearly two decades.
  As an attorney and Alaska Native, he contributed his knowledge and 
experience to efforts within Alaska to achieve a settlement through the 
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of Alaska Native aboriginal 
land claims that resulted from work by many across the State in the 
enactment of Public Law 93-203 in 1971. He then helped to establish 
Koniag, Inc., one of the regional Alaska Native Corporations authorized 
by ANCSA.
  It was in 1975 that Roy began service as a Superior Court judge. He 
served in the State's Third Judicial District, an area of approximately 
67,000 square miles, and sat in Kodiak. He served as a judge on that 
court through 1990.
  Judge Madsen continued to serve his beloved island through the 
decades. After his retirement from the bench, he enjoyed participating 
in Alaska court system's Colors of Justice Program, promoting 
acceptance of diversity and encouraging minorities to consider pursuing 
law as a career. He helped found, was chair of the first advisory 
board, and was a professor at the Kodiak Community College teaching 
constitutional, criminal, and business law. After his retirement from 
the bench, he was appointed to the Alaska State Commission for Human 
Rights and to the Alaska Supreme Court Committee on Fairness and Access 
to the Courts.
  Roy was counsel for writing the articles of incorporation for and an 
original board member of St. Herman's Orthodox Theological Seminary, a 
board member of the Kodiak Baptist Missions Treatment Center for 
Troubled Youths, and a member of the advisory board of St. Innocent's 
Orthodox Academy for Troubled Youths. He also served on the

[[Page S6813]]

Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative committee which focused on 
incorporating ``Native Ways of Learning'' into mainstream education 
delivery in Alaska. That initiative added a great deal to the 
recognition and usage of this form of wisdom of the Elders and Native 
culture in learning delivery in the State.
  A mesmerizing storyteller, with deep and broad knowledge as an elder, 
Roy was a sought after and frequently featured speaker at any number of 
local events. Among his many honors was Saint Herman's Cross, bestowed 
upon him by Bishop Gregory Afonsky. In more recent years, Kodiak's 
courthouse was rededicated as the Roy H. Madsen Justice Center.
  Not long before his passing, Roy was named Conservation Elder of the 
Year by the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge for his long dedication to 
the refuge's Kodiak brown bear program. In recognition of his lifetime 
of achievement, the University of Alaska honored him with a doctorate 
of humanities. The documentary, ``Magnetic North,'' capturing how his 
life contributed to the history, spirit, and character of Alaska, 
premiered in Kodiak and aired on Alaska Public Television during 2017 
shortly before his passing.
  Roy was equally comfortable in his robes dispensing justice from the 
court bench as he was in a flannel shirt and worn corduroys at the helm 
of his skiff, shuttling family to a cabin on Woody Island or helping 
ferry pilgrims for the annual St. Herman's Pilgrimage to Monk's Lagoon 
or simply picking wild berries and mushrooms in the woods.
  He was in his element with an audience, be it 2 or 200 hundred, 
sharing his stories of nature and human nature. His deep bass voice 
could fill a room, and his easy smile and laughter were contagious. Roy 
was manly enough to shed tears of joy or sorrow without embarrassment, 
to render steady advice, and to dispense his love, help, and friendship 
to all in need.
  When asked for some words of advice, Roy once answered: ``For a good 
quality of life, I believe it is important to have several things: a 
positive mind, good family relationships, goals you hope to achieve and 
to be adaptable. Be open to new relationships, never feel too old to 
learn and always be yourself. Recognize that you are unique. There is 
only one you.''
  He held his most satisfying accomplishments as: ``Extending justice 
and judicial services to rural Alaska--exposing rural Alaskans to 
Alaska's judicial system and making them feel included by traveling to 
them and delivering services in their own communities.''
  Linda, his wife of 36 years prior to his passing, perhaps said it 
best: Roy had ``the soul of a poet, the vitality of a fisherman and 
hunter, measured reason and mental retentiveness of a judge, courage 
and vision of one committed to making life better for others, and the 
heart and humanity of a loyal friend.''
  This is but a brief overview of the life of Roy Madsen who lived such 
a productive and principled life and who, by his deeds and who he was, 
represented the apex of what frontier Alaska and America can produce.
  It is with the greatest respect that I share with my Senate 
colleagues and with the American people this short biographical sketch 
of the life of Roy Madsen, a wonderful Alaskan who served his country 
in war and peace and his fellow citizens in so many exemplary ways. We 
all are enriched to know about this great man whose life will be 
remembered and, hopefully, emulated as a ``north star'' for those who 
were fortunate to know him and those who will learn about his 
remarkable life.

                          ____________________