Rachel Thomas

Originally from Montana, Rachel Thomas came to Alaska in 1954. She and three friends drove up the new Alaska Highway, camping along the way and enjoying the towns and sites they visited. She drove the highway many times since, and noticed many changes through the years. Rachel attended Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, and during summers, she worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Yellowstone National Park and for the Glacier Transport Company in Glacier National Park. She graduated Montana State University in 1951, and later received a Master of Education from the University of Alaska in 1961. Rachel began her Alaska teaching career, teaching shorthand, typing, English and physical education in Kenai, and in 1955 married Donald D. Thomas who was serving in the Army at Wildwood Station in Kenai. As they moved around for Don's work and Rachel raised two sons, she continued her teaching career. She taught grades three, four and five in Aniak, accounting and physical education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and in the Business Department at Lathrop High School in Fairbanks, Alaska. She retired in 1982 and settled in Fairbanks, Alaska mixed with seasonal living in Mesa, Arizona. Rachel passed away in 2019 at the age of 91. For more about Rachel Thomas, see her obituary in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner newspaper.