Carla Jean Milburn, born June 24, 1955, passed away peacefully in her sleep in the early morning hours of November 2, 2024 in Homer, Alaska. Born in Spokane, WA to Jeannine Fay (McLaren) Milburn and Don Devereaux Milburn, Carla attended Manson schools in Lake Chelan. After graduation in 1973 she was ready for …. adventure!
From working in her family’s apple orchard and a pizzeria in high school it was north to Alaska. Like her friends and interests, her work career that followed was a palette of diversity. Landing more firmly in Homer in the late 1970’s Carla picked up odd jobs including bartending before buying her home and land in Hidden Hills off the North Fork ridge where she made a life-long family of neighbors. Carla worked in a dentist office as an assistant and took a job with a plumber that taught her enough about the skill to warrant friends asking for help. Since she was most known for her bubbly laugh and way with kids, neighbors and friends tapped into her love of child sitting. Living in a fishing town Carla was lured to the water and soon took jobs on seiners and drift commercial boats in the Cook Inlet. Loving to work with fibers she then picked up the skill of mending and building nets. In short order she built a big shop on her property for fitting the long nets in. Carla loved to drive and was quite good at it. Many adults still warmly remember Carla as their school bus driver when they were kids, which she did for a few years in between commercial fishing and working for Crowley. Somewhere in there, Fish and Game employed her for several seasons as a field technician working the weirs in Chenik and Delight Lake. She seemed to love spending summers remotely exploring and learning the flora and wildness of Alaska. Next, she worked for Crowley in Valdez as a ship cook before returning to Fish and Game as a Tech III taking fish samples for commercial and sport fish in the summers at local ports and entering the data in the winters. Carla retired from Fish and Game in 2018. Her last work adventure and palm-rubbing delight, was a home-based breakfast burrito business selling her hand-made perfected burritos and cookies at the boat launch in Anchor Point in the wee hours of the morning. She was not one to sleep in.
Carla had an artistic bend. While she never displayed in galleries, she sold at craft fairs. Her work included drawings and sketches, low relief paper molding, ink prints, knitting (gifting many hats and scarfs), crocheting blue-ribbon lace. Her way with fibers and colors seemed natural to her. She crafted yard art from found objects and built beautiful flower beds around her yard, lovingly wintering over bulbs and rhizomes. She was generous sharing her cuttings and loved to help friends in their gardens. She sang well, played piano and guitar. She had a dove BrrBrr for over 20 years that delighted the kids. Dogs were her favored loving companions though, the last being Penny who has already found a new forever-home.
Carla’s friendships reflected her love and caring. We are a diverse bunch as well. Her work friends, fishing friends, card playing friends, the families she came to be part of through child-sitting and bus driving, her neighbors who always help each other out, old class-mates. Perhaps the most heart-filled and rewarding time of her life was when Carla took part in several trips with the Earthwalk Humanitarian Project, a group of individuals skilled in building, health care and the arts to work in Peru, Haiti and South Africa.
Carla was independent, hard-working, self-made, spirited and stoic. She did all the handywoman work around her home – up on the roof, under the house, painting, trimming. She cut and bucked firewood, turned wrenches on her vehicles. She could run a skiff and repair an outboard. If she didn’t have the right tool, she would invent from other objects to do the job. Good and hilarious times were had dip-netting on the Kenai and Kasilof and casting for sockeyes with cohoe flies on the Russian River. She was on Car Talk! And she’s had brown bears at the end of her gun. Laughter surrounded her as that was the light she drew. Carla had plans, but she fully lived life in the moment. She reveled in silliness.
About five years ago Carla was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She was private about her health. Only very close friends walked this journey with her. Carla is survived by sisters Peggy and Deveral, and brother Tod; nephews Stewart, Braydon, Brett, Andrew and niece Jenica. She was preceded in death by her parents and niece Natasha. Carla did not want a memorial. You can remember her with a donation to Hospice of Homer, animal rescue groups or to cancer research. And go, get together with friends, share laughter and food, play a game in her memory. She would like that more than anything.
