Kenneth A Gair

Kenneth Angus Gair, 71, passed peacefully from this life the morning of July 18, 2017 at his home in Knik, AK. He was born in Spokane, WA on January 24, 1946 but came to Alaska as a small child and, although he traveled extensively, always considered it home. Ken grew up in the Douglas-Juneau area where he spent much of his time on the water. He joined the Navy in 1965, serving aboard the USS Ticonderoga and the USS Constellation. After his honorable discharge in 1969, he attended college at Black Hills State University in South Dakota before coming home to Alaska where he decided to attend Marine Diesel School. Ultimately he moved to Knik and became a commercial fisherman for a time but then found a love for dogs and "making them go fast when I wanted them to". This became his true passion and he raised and raced dogs for the most of the remainder of his life. He was very proud of winning three straight Jr. Iditarod's with dogs from his yard and also leasing dogs to mushers that placed as high as second in the Iditarod. Many of his friends have repeatedly claimed "everything they learned about dogs, they learned from Ken". Ken was preceded in death by his parents, Angus and Catherine "Kitty" Gair. He is survived by a son, Angus Gair, of Renton, WA and his loving companion, Layna Jarrett, of Alaska and West Virginia. Ken's boisterous laughter and his love will remain in our hearts forever. Ken's wishes to be cremated were provided by the Cremation Society of Alaska and a celebration of his life was held at Knik Lake.