Desdia Neva Egan (October 3, 1914 – January 19, 2011) was an American educator who served as the first First Lady of Alaska from the state's creation in 1959 to 1966, and again from 1970 to 1974.[1] Egan was the wife of the state of Alaska's first governor, William Allen Egan, and the mother of former Juneau Mayor and Alaska State Senator Dennis Egan.[2]
Biography
Early life
Egan was born Desdia Neva McKittrick on October 3, 1914, in Wilson, Kansas.[1][3] She was the third of five children born to Joseph Leland McKittrick and Martha Desdia Alderson McKittrick.[1][3] McKittrick worked at her family's grocery store to earn the tuition money to attend Kansas State College.[1] She then transferred to the University of Wyoming, where her aunt was a faculty member, in Laramie, Wyoming.
McKittrick began her career teaching music in a public school in Glenrock, Wyoming, for two years.[1] She was paid a salary of $1,000 USD annually.[1] She moved to the Territory of Alaska from Wyoming in 1937.[2] McKittrick sailed to Alaska on board a steamship called the Teachers Special, which brought teachers to Alaska to work in the territory during the winter.[3] McKittrick moved to Valdez, Alaska, where she became one of just three new teachers hired for the Valdez school district that year[1] for a one-year teaching assignment.[2] She taught fourth through sixth grade, as well as music, in the Valdez public school system.[3]
McKittrick soon met her future husband, William Allen Egan, in Valdez, and the couple married on November 16, 1940.[3] William Egan was also elected to the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives in 1940.[4] William and Neva also operated a small grocery store, the Valdez Supply.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Dunham, Mike (2011-01-21). "Neva Egan, the first of Alaska's first ladies, dies at age 96". Anchorage Daily News. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
- ^ a b c Morrison, Eric (2006-07-02). "Parade grand marshals paved the way, Egan and Williams helped to shape state government, economy". Juneau Empire. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
- ^ a b c d e f "Desdia Neva McKittrick Egan". Ellsworth Independent-Reporter. 2011-01-25. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
- ^ "Alaska's former first lady Neva Egan dies". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Associated Press. 2011-01-20. Archived from the original on 2011-01-22. Retrieved 2011-02-18.