Margaret Minnie McRae, 84

Longtime Alaskan and former Seward, Alaska, and Kalispell resident Margaret McRae died from a hemorrhagic stroke April 1, 2006, at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.

Graveside services for Mrs. McRae were April 10 at the American Legion Cemetery with Father Emmanuel officiating.

Mrs. McRae was born on Dec. 22, 1921, in Kalispell, to Schuyler and Laura Rhone.

After graduating from Flathead County High School in 1940, she planned to attend art school. Her plans changed when she met Albert 'Scotty' McRae in Glacier National Park in the summer of 1940. They married on Christmas Day, 1940, and moved to Kodiak, Alaska, in the spring of 1941.

She worked as a bookkeeper while in Kodiak and often talked about life in Kodiak during the war. She moved to Seward with her husband in 1942 and loved Seward from the minute they arrived. In the winter of 1946 she and Scotty, along with their 2-year-old son Doug, traveled over the Alaska Highway from Washington to Alaska. They traveled the road with Cap Lathrop, who was building the Fourth Avenue movie theater in Anchorage. During the 1964 earthquake/tsunami, Mrs. McRae, along with her family, had the harrowing experience of riding the roof of a house at the head of Resurrection Bay.

Mrs. McRae had exceptional artistic talent, and she also loved to sew, cook and garden. Her husband and children were the center of her universe, and she was most happy as a wife and mother.

In Seward, she was a member of the Seward Lutheran Church, Order of Eastern Star and the Pioneers of Alaska. She also enjoyed traveling and just six weeks ago had returned from Kona, Hawaii. She spent a week in Seward last month and was headed for the airport and Las Vegas on March 28 when she suffered a stroke in her home.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Albert 'Scotty' McRae; infant son, Roger Bruce McRae; father, Schuyler Colfax Rhone; mother, Laura Stroebe Rhone; and brother, John Rhone.

Mrs. McRae was loved by her family and will be missed forever.

Her survivors include her son, Doug and Diane McRae, of Seward; daughter, Linda and Steve MacSwain, of Anchorage; son, Robert McRae, of Michigan; three grandchildren, Doug and Pam McRae Jr., Steve and Claudia MacSwain, and Stephanie MacSwain Skoutas and Parris Skoutas; and three great-grandchildren, Stevie, Matthew and Corbin.

Mrs. McRae gave the gift of life through organ donation to make life better for others.

Gifts in Mrs. McRae's memory may be made to the Seward Senior Center at Box 1195, Seward, AK 99664. The family may be contacted through Linda MacSwain, 4154 Apollo Drive, Anchorage, AK 99504.

Arrangements were made by Evergreen Memorial Chapel in Anchorage.