Alf O. Skar's Obituary
Alf "Al" O. Skar, 92 of Tacoma, Washington passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of October 7, 2016 at the Avamere Heritage Rehabilitation center in Tacoma.
Al was born on June 16, 1924 to John T. and Anna Kaldor Skar in Deep, North Dakota. He was the youngest child and was raised on the family farm with his three brothers and a sister. He left the home and entered the United States Army on July 2, 1943. He completed his training as a Surgical Technician (Medic) and was deployed with the 90th Division to Europe. He landed in Normandy France on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, D-day with the 90th Division. His unit also fought in Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the European- African-Middle Eastern Service medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.
Following the war, Al returned to Bottineau, North Dakota and completed his Associates Degree. He then decided to travel until he ran out of gas and ended up in Tacoma, where he went to work for ASARCO, at the Tacoma Smelter plant. Later he went to work for the Northern Pacific Rail Road and joined the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way union. Al took great pride in his work and was known for pointing out the many rail bridges that he had built or worked on over the years. Including the Tuttle River Bridge, where he used his truck and boom to remove trees from the structure following the 1981 eruption of Mount St. Helen's.
He met Clarice Hutchinson at a Tacoma bus stop and after their courtship; they married on August 27, 1949. They had two children, Sharon Ann and Jacqueline Sue. He and Clarice joined Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in its early days meeting in the basement of the Concordia School. Al put his building skills to good service for the church as he helped build the original sanctuary. He was also a long time Chairman of the Board of Trustees and he and Clarice spearheaded the formation of the Prime Timers Group, a Christian fellowship group for seniors.
Alf served his fellow employees at the rail road as the Union Secretary-Treasurer and as of the Grievance Chairman. He retired from the Burlington Northern railroad in 1986.
Al also served the community at large, as a member of the board for Puget Sound General Hospital for several years.
After his retirement, he and Clarice enjoyed traveling and visiting with relatives and seeing faraway lands such as Norway, England, and Germany. He enjoyed and took great pride in his entire family and was always all smiles when he attended the Skar Family Reunions.
Al enjoyed wood carving since he was ten years old. He attended several wood carving courses at the Clover Park Technical College and enjoyed many hours of wood carving. He was a member of the Northwest Wood Carving Association and earned many awards for his works. He volunteered and mentored wood carving at the Lighthouse Senior Center where he had many friends. He also taught many young people about wood carving including several of his nephews. He loved making carving knives and giving them away to his many of his family, friends and fellow carvers’.
He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Clarice, his brothers Bjarne and Rolf, and his sister Jordis.
He is survived by his daughters Sharon Skar of Lacey, WA and Jacqueline Owens of Lacey, WA; his son-in-law David Owens, his grandson Timothy James Owens of Fort Jackson, SC and his wife Learap; his granddaughter Mi’kel Lee Dawson of Lacey, WA and her husband Christopher; Three Great Granddaughters, Crysta and Mikela Dawson, and Alexandra Owens; his Great-Great Granddaughter Amberlynn Dawson; his brother Maurice of Aiken, MN; as well as numerous nieces and nephews across the world.
The family wishes to express their gratitude to the staff at Avamere Heritage Rehabilitation center. The professionalism, kindness and love, and family atmosphere were of great comfort to Alf and his entire family.
Services for Al will be held on Monday, October 17, 2016. A private interment service will be held at Mountain View Memorial Park at 10:30 am and the memorial service will follow at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Tacoma at 1:00 pm.
In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made to the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.
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