Unhappy occasion: Sisters were in Alaska for dad's birthday

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Two women from Montana who drowned after their canoe capsized were sisters who had traveled to Alaska to celebrate their father’s birthday, the women’s aunt said Friday.

Carol Heater, 48, of Kalispell, and 60-year-old Fern Johnson of Plains died Wednesday. Johnson’s husband, Robert Johnson, also went into the water but was rescued.

Helen Sorenson of Ronan told The Associated Press that her two nieces had flown to Alaska with a half-dozen other family members to celebrate the 85th birthday of their father, who lives in Clam Gulch, Alaska.

The sisters were grandmothers and enjoyed the outdoors, Sorenson said. They were very close and often took vacations together.

“They loved the outdoors, they loved the water. We never thought it would be their death, unfortunately, but they loved it. And at least they went doing what they loved doing,” Sorenson said.

Police said the three Montanans decided to paddle downriver with their brother-in-law Robert Voris, who lives in the suburban Anchorage community of Eagle River, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The visitors rode in a canoe while Voris used a kayak Wednesday, according to police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker. It’s not clear where they launched their boats.

All four wore personal flotation devices.

Parker said at about 3 p.m. the group encountered a large logjam. The canoe butted up against the logjam in an area of slower current. But Parker said when the canoeists tried to paddle away from the logjam, they were caught in a faster current, and the canoe overturned.

The sisters were pushed by the current under the debris despite the flotation devices. Robert Johnson was able to pull himself up onto the logjam. Parker said Johnson tried to pull the women out of the water but couldn’t do it. The men were able to make it to shore.

Firefighters sent swimmers into the river Wednesday evening to recover the two bodies. The Alaska State Troopers used a helicopter to help transport them to the shore.

Reached at his home Thursday, Voris told the Daily News that he was too distraught to speak about the incident or the two women.

Both women worked as health care professionals, Sorenson said.

Johnson worked as a home health care nurse for the Clark Fork Valley, visiting patients who live in rural areas, Sorenson said. She also was president of the Plains Woman’s Club, which does charitable work.

Heater was the program director at the Sleep Medicine Center in Kalispell, Sorenson said.

Each has two sons. Johnson has three grandchildren and Heater has two, she said.