Gallaway, Grace Hill

Former Alaskan Grace Hill Gallaway, 95, died Feb. 12, 2010, at 
home in Gridley, Calif. 

Born June 5, 1914, in Konowa, Okla., she was the first of eight 
children of C.E. and Eva Hill. 

At the age of 5, Grace survived the Spanish flu epidemic of 
1919, nursing family victims. 

During World War II, Grace drove buses, assembled aircraft 
engines, and became a welder and welding inspector. At war's 
end, she processed the personal effects of those killed or 
missing in action, working to return the items to their families. 
In 1948, she loaded her sons in a Ford Woody station wagon 
and drove the Alaska Highway to Alaska. She was a cook at the 
Alaska Railroad's Curry Hotel. When an accident nicked a 
railroader's jugular vein, she rode from Curry to Anchorage 
applying her little finger inside of his neck, saving his life. 

She was a cook at the Anchorage Grill, the Oyster Loaf, and 
owned and operated the Cheechako Restaurant. In 1951, in 
Seward, she was blackballed by restaurant owners for organizing 
the cooks and waitresses. So she opened the Chicken Shack 
cafe. Rebelling against Seward's blue laws, she allowed the 
"girls of the line" to dine at the cafe.

During the Fairbanks flood of 1965, she prepared meals for 
flood victims in the university mess hall for 35 hours straight. 
She believed in a good education and a strong work ethic. 

After winning part of the Nenana Ice Classic, she bought a home 
in Gridley, Calif., to care for her aging parents and became a 
genealogist. There she established a successful red-worm farm 
to support her extended family. She made over 200 quilt tops 
for her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and many 
friends. She authored and published three biographies at age 70 
including "Oklahoma Hills." 

She was preceded in death by two sisters, four brothers, three 
sons, George, Glen and Gene; and a grandson. 

Survivors are her sister, Cathy Hawkins of Fenton, Mo.; her son, 
Guy Gallaway and his wife Carol of Anchorage; 10 
grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and many loving nieces 
and nephews. A family memorial will be in New Mexico in June.

Published in adn.com from February 24 to February 25, 2010