Evelyn Frances Sprague

Evelyn Frances Sprague, 98, died on Friday, April 27, 2018, at her home in Anchorage from complications of esophageal cancer.

Evelyn Mackesey was born in Pine Bluff, Wisconsin, to Ambrose and Agnes Mackesey. After moving numerous times during the depression years they located in rural Madison where she attended St. James Grade School and graduated from Madison West High School. After graduation she was employed by the Wisconsin Highway Department until her marriage.

Evelyn married Richard Sprague in a Catholic ceremony at Luke Field, Arizona, in May of 1943. Their assignments with the Air Force included Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, Tennessee, Japan, Nevada, Washington, Germany, and finished with a final four-year stay at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska.

After retiring from her civil service job in Anchorage, and Richard from the military, they decided to make their home in Homer. Evelyn was a real estate agent in Homer for a few years, and later enjoyed buying and selling many homes of their own in Homer. She also maintained the home base for Richard’s fishing business, Grizzly Charters.

Evelyn was a long-time active member of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and served with the Women’s Guild in many functions, including the beloved thrift store Pick ‘n’ Pay. She maintained close friendships in the Guild and the Red Hats, and enjoyed beach combing, berry picking and a daily crossword puzzle. Always ready for a new adventure, she and Richard traveled to Florida for many winters, and also around the states visiting in their motorhome.

Her kids gifted her with a Macintosh for her 80th birthday. She quickly mastered it and enjoyed being a successful day trader of stocks. She remained mentally sharp and witty till the end.

Evelyn was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Richard;, her daughter Margaret; her brothers, Thomas, Vincent, Edwin, and Richard; and her sister, Mildred.

She is survived by four of their five children: Carolyn Sprague, Patricia Wick (Robert), Robert Sprague (Katharine), and Joanne Sprague; two grandchildren, Barbara Hall and Richard Sprague, and one great-grandson, Keegan Hall, as well as her sister Kathleen Marion and many nieces and nephews.

Evelyn’s last years were enjoyed at her home in Anchorage, with devoted companionship and daily health care provided by her oldest daughter, Carolyn.

Arrangements were by Cremation Society of Alaska. A memorial mass and reception will be held on July 7, 2018, in Homer, and followed on July 9, 2018, by a service at Ft. Richardson, where her ashes, along with those of her cherished husband, Richard L. Sprague, who died in 2013, will be buried in a military cemetery, per their wishes.