Former Ninilchik resident and charter captain Harvey Haynes, 78, died Oct. 4, 2013, from complications from spinal cancer surgery. His family said he died at home, where he wanted to be.
“Though the last month was rough, he felt comfort being surrounded by those he loved,” his family said.
A celebration of life is 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, at Valley Funeral Home, 151 E. Herning Ave., Wasilla.
Harvey Haynes was born Feb. 27, 1935, in Alabama to Jack and Flossie Haynes.
Harvey arrived in Alaska in the late 1960s, his last stop for his 20-year career in the military. He instantly fell in love with the wilderness, hunting, fishing, and trapping. He knew he would never leave again, his family said.
After retiring from both the military and then the U.S. Government, Harvey became a private business man. In 1982, he bought a 10-acre patch of land over-looking the mouth of Deep Creek in Ninilchik. By 1985, he was a licensed fishing charter operator and campground owner.
Harv’s Charter and Campground was now on the map. The special treatment he gave and his unique humor was legendary, and kept people coming back year after year, his family said. On Aug. 20, 1990, he received a Honorable Accommodation Award for bravery from former Gov. Steve Cowper for rescuing people in a turned over boat in high winds and rough seas at Deep Creek.
In 1995, Harvey retired once again and sold his business to care for his ailing wife, Betty.
“Family was very important to him,” his family said. “Beneath the rough exterior and some hillbilly ways there was nothing he would not do for his family. His daughter, Janice, in so many ways was like him, but most importantly was his pride and joy. He was devoted to her as she was to him. Alan Roy, Harvey’s son in-law, shared a bond with him and at times was stretched, but there was always a mutual respect. He was also blessed with two grandsons, Devin Day and Brandon Roy. No man ever talked, loved, and praised about these boys more than Harvey. “
After years of helping care for his wife and himself, after she died, and with the blessing of his family, Harvey decided to marry his companion, Mary Drew.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Betty Rosina Haynes, and his parents, Jack and Flossie Haynes.
Harvey is survived by his daughter, Janice Haynes-Roy; son in-law, Alan Roy; grandsons, Devin Michael Day and Brandon Alan Roy; and second wife, Mary Jane Drew.
Arrangements were cared for by Valley Funeral Home.
