Obituary

Marylou Gladys (Mackey) Cacy, (April 29, 1928-July 17, 2022) has slipped away to the angels this week, after a very brief illness. She passed at the family winter home in Palm Springs, where she’s lived much of the past five years.
Born in Northern Minnesota (Cass Lake), she lived most of her life in Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska. She started her adventures here in 1944. She traveled by train to Seattle, then Alaska Steamship to Valdez. There, she, her sisters and mother, Gladys Chase, boarded a Ford TriMotor, for the last leg of the trip to Fairbanks. Her brother Howard Mackey, and sisters, Joyce Mackey Hill, Jean Mackey Thies, Donna Mackey Knight, Patricia Mackey Preston and June Chase Herrington all passed previously.
After arriving in Fairbanks she worked at the Lacey Street theater. Later she operated the Arctic Circle Hot Springs Hotel with our Dad, Robert John Cacy, Jr.
Her life found her river rafting the Yukon, climbing to claim an active sulfur volcano in the Aleutians, hunting Moose and caribou in the Fall, building log homes, making parkas for her five kids (and almost everything else) and, worked outside the home, too!
Most of Marylou’s 40 work years in Anchorage, were spent with Marston Real Estate, where she was frequently a top seller.
She loved her extended family above all else.
She is survived by her many great grandchildren, grandchildren and children of Alaska, Washington and New York; Robert Charles, wife Rani, Roselynn Cacy, Rob, Kasha, Teddy, Felix, Veronica Cacy Tatum, James, Abby, Millie, Cynthia Cacy, Josh Allely, Clarissa, Brooke Cacy of North Pole, Anne Cacy Habza, Ed, Alex, Kirstin Boyd, Freyja Boyd, John Cacy, Robin Cacy, Matthew Cacy, Sandra Brewer-Cacy, Rhys, David Cacy, Jessica Cacy, Ivy, Clive, Jeff Cacy and Curt Black. Additionally, she is survived by Nyrerød family members in Norway, having lost her husband, Gunnar there in 2012.
That’s the line of Cacy’s that called “Lou”, mom, grama, or great grama (GG); her source of great love in her final years, and throughout her life.
Her family is hosting a Celebration of Life in honor of Marylou on August 6, in Anchorage, at 2:00 PM.  Contact Anne at 907- 248-4917 for details.

Marylou Cacy
Address to Anchorage Senior Center
2010

I came to Alaska in July 1944.

…December 7, 1941 our world was changed. A terrible war had started and our men were drafted into the military and many of them we did not see again. The reason I mention this war that it was the reason for building the Alaska, or Alcan Highway. My dad, Charlie Chase, was notified by one off the contractors to respond to the call for workers on the highway.
We lived in Cass Lake, Minnesota at the time, it was a poor time for our family…Dad had worked as a contractor before, building roads in Minnesota. He would be gone for long periods of time, for the work on the Canada part of the road, and being gone was okay. The company took Dad, two tractors and two trucks that Dad had in our logging camp at the time. Every civilian piece of equipment was needed. It was a time to make war machines, and defense.

Dad went up to work in early 1942, we did not see him again until mid 1944. My mother, Gladys and my older sister, Jean and brother Howard, also went to work on the highway. My mom and sister were two of the first women to come over the road.

They were on an army bus out of Whitehorse, it was -40 below. Mom and my sister Jean were dressed to the nines, they froze in those dresses. They were going to the big city of Fairbanks! The driver ask them to wear warmer clothes the next day, which they were more than happy to do.

Mother came back to Minnesota to get four of us girls to bring us back to Alaska, Donna had just graduated high school, it was May 1944.

We started to pack for Alaska. We boarded a train about the middle of June to Washington state. There we picked up my youngest sister June, who has stayed with my oldest sister Joyce, and her husband, Bud, for the winter in Washington. The town had gathered to see us off, including my grandmother who stayed with us during my mother’s time in Canada.

From Seattle, we boarded the Alaska Steamship line for Valdez, Alaska. The party consisted of Mother, Donna, Patricia, June and myself. It was still wartime and there was talk of “just in case” as Japanese submarines had been patrolling the Gulf of Alaska. One evening about dinner time, there was an announcement a submarine had been spotted. We were all to go to our lifeboat stations. All the steamships had coast guard machine gun placements on them, and they were vigilant. They were meant to take care of us. After about 20 minutes the submarine was identified as one of ours. I know what it means to say your knees have turned to water, after that. I was 16 and felt as if I had a lot to live for, especially to see my Dad again.

The sailors on the ship were polite and very helpful. They were just a few years older than us girls, especially Pat and I, We found plenty of reasons to sun near their stations. They enjoyed the company and so did we.

We arrived in Valdez on the 3rd for July. There were freighters loading and unloading and it was just wonderful. We came into Fairbanks on the 5th of July, by air from Valdez, a tri-motor, a first for us girls. Until we embarked on our trip to Alaska, none of us had every been out of Minnesota. Not to mention on a train, ship or plane!

So many experiences, including getting married at 20 years of age. Three of us girls, Jean, Pat and I, married local boys, and settled into being Alaskans. I have five children, six grandchildren and three great grandchildren. A real blessing.

In 1954, my husband Bob and I, plus Jack and Georgianna Tripp, leased Arctic Circle Hot Springs for three years. The hotel had been homesteaded by the Leaches in the 1920s, To help bring them out of debt, Bob’s Dad and Mom leased it from them in the 1930s, Mr. and Mrs. Cacy leased it to the Berdahl’s in the later 1940s, and we subsequently leased it from them.

Arctic Circle Hot Springs (ACHS) had been homesteaded by the Leaches in the mid 1930s. Bob’s Dad and Mom (Robert J. Cacy, and Francis Cacy) lease/purchased it shortly after, to help them recover from the debt of buildng the hotel. Bob had spent much of his growing up years in the hotel.

The Sr. Cacy’s leased it to the Berdahl’s which they in turn leased back to Bob and I, plus Jack and Georgianna, for three years. While we were at the Springs another family came and lived there. They had twins during that time, in addition to their first two (the Stan and Virginia Galvin family). With our five and the Tripp’s first three, we had a really family thing going. After our lease expired, the Berdahl’s returned.

Running a hotel in the Arctic in our twenties was a real experience. During our time there, Georgianna and I waited tables for three meals a day. We recorded the weather and reported it to Wein for their DC-3 schedule, and I had a new baby in May, and Georgianna had a six month old!

We hired girls from Circle City to babysit (Lena), and her sister. Georgianna and and I taught our school age children with the Calvert School program out of Baltimore, MD. This was first and second grade. Exciting, but not so for my Rob, as he missed playing with the other children. (Georgianna’s oldest were girls.).

The first Fall we were at the Springs, the Army approached Bob and Jack about housing for 20 men plus two officers. There were arrangements made and we had that group all the time we were at the Springs. (The Distance Early Warning System of the U.S. Army was going in on the Arctic Circle.)

After we left the Springs, Bob, the kids and I made a trip to California to be near the senior Cacy’s outside San Diego, in Escondido. Bob took a job on the new highway going in, and we stayed a year. So often, one of the kids would ask, “When do we go home?” We came back in a year, Alaska was home. Bob had already returned to find work up north.

There was a trip I will always remember. In the Fall I came back to Fairbanks to meet Bob and go back to California. The children were being cared for by a lady from Circle (Dale Choate?) and Bob’s parents.

While I was in the Interior, Bob and I took a river trip down Birch Creek. It was near ACHS. We walked to Beilenberg that belonged to Hank Martin, a trapper on the river. The walk, with packs, for eight days, was heavy but not impossible.

We left the Springs in early morning and walked six miles to Hank’s. We stayed with Hank overnight. He had a wonderful dinner for us and at four the next morning, we had a great breakfast. We were on our way at five.

Hank believed in early starts. Bob and I spent a week on the river.. We saw wolf signs, traps the had been set for them, and many other wild life and interesting scenery. We slept on sand bars. We were traveling in a rubber raft. Bob carried a .357 magnum for protection. Only one night did we feel threatened by wolves and Bob kept the gun under the covers.
Bob was well versed in the use of weapons and I did not feel anxious. We fished every day, were lucky and had good meals.

At the end of our journey, were met on the road between Central and Circle City on our arrival back. We were picked up and taken to Central. We were left off at Bert Carlson’s beautiful log home and bar. He bought me a drink, but Bob had to buy his own. Bert told us I was the first woman to travel Birch Creek and Bob could buy his own beer! Why an honor. He had lived in the area for many decades.

We soon returned to California to get our five kids who were being looked after. That was September of 1957. In April of 1958 we returned to Fairbanks. It was so good to be home. We put the kids in school and life went on.

In 1966, three partners and Bob filed a sulphur claim on the top of Mt. Makushin on Unalaska Island. Jack Tripp and Roy Lawrence went up to stake it and do assay work. When they got back their faces had been badly burned by the sun and sulphur on the mountain. Not serious, but not good to look at either. The next year, 1967, the year of the big flood in Fairbanks, it was time to go back to Makushin and do more assay work.
We had just moved away from the flood and re settled in Anchorage.

Our oldest son, had gone into the Navy in 1966, and the other four were in school, so I chose to go with Bob to Makushin. We took Reeve Aleutian to Dutch Harbor, then a flew onto Midway to start our journey up the mountain. We were met at Midway by an army officer who was in charge of the base there. He and Bob talked as we were getting off the plane. Needless to say, he was very surprised to see me. He offered a ride to the bottom of the mountain, about five miles and left us off.

The mountain is 6,680 feet to the top, covered in snow. It wasn’t quite noon when we started. It was covered in snow fields and some glacier. Huge fumerals were present and Bob cautioned me about them. We threw rocks in the holes and never heard them hit. We go to the top about six in the evening. We set up camp and started the work that needed to be done. Jack and Roy had marked everything so we could work fast. We turned in as it got dark about 8:30 or 9 pm. During the night there was a terrific storm. The rain was so hard, driven by wind, that it came right through the tent walls. Our sleeping bags, the old kapok, were pretty wet and we had to leave one behind. The day was beautiful as we came down the mountain. And we were feeling pretty good. No ride when we got to the bottom so we walked to the airport to set up camp and wait for the plane the next day. About the time we had finished eating, the CO came down and invited us up to the base with a warm room and showers! So very kind. The troops who were there were on a one year assignment. We all had good visits and watched a movie.

We were able to return to Anchorage by air the next day. Our son Brooke, had come home from Talkeetna where he had been working with a guide. We were all together again except for Rob, who was in the Navy. Anne, John and Jeff had done just fine while we were away. We really missed him (Rob) that night as we related our time away from each other.

I have been told, and it was verified, that I was the first woman to climb Makushin. It was a wonderful experience and I am so glad to have done it. I don’t know if there have been any others since or not.

He next year there was a group of Japanese men who tried to do an ariel file on the sulfur claim and to their surprise they were told we had already made claim. So they could not file. Eventually a Canadian company (CIL Limited) bought our claim and that is the last I have heard of it.

One of the best things that ever happened to our family, was our move to Alaska. We were a happy family. My parents were very successful in business as was my brother, Howard. I do not think everyone has the gift of 67 years of a perfect place to live. I give thanks, very often. Thank you.