Joseph Bear

Joseph Bear, 98, passed away peacefully at Providence Medical Center. Joewas born in Hedding, NJ and was the youngest in a large blendedHungarian family. Joe served during WWII in the Army Air Force as amechanic for a B25 air squadron. In 1947, Joe and a friend embarked on agreat adventure, driving to Alaska over the newly completed Alcan highway.Once in Anchorage, Joe found work and enjoyed life in the Last Frontier.Upon return to New Jersey, Joe began courting Dorothy, who soon becamehis wife. In 1951 Joe and Dot moved to Anchorage Alaska where theysettled in Muldoon and eventually built their home. Joe, Dorothy and theirthree sons also homesteaded 40 acres on the South Fork of Eagle River inthe early 1960’s. Joe’s career was as an inspector for the Army Corps ofEngineers and he worked on several large projects throughout the state,including reconstruction of downtown Anchorage after the 1964earthquake. As well as being an avid outdoorsman, enjoying hunting,fishing and flying, Joe was a wonderful artist who enjoyed painting as wellas carving soapstone and wood. After his retirement, Joe & Dot often tookfriends and family on their trips to Europe; they enjoyed giving guidance toothers in terms of places to visit, good restaurants and the best drivingroutes. Being devout Catholics, Joe & Dot were generous with their timeand donations to various aspects of the Catholic Church including helping tobuild two Anchorage parishes. Joe was preceded in death by his parents,siblings, son Stephen J Bear and beloved wife of 69 years, Dorothy P Bear.Survivors include sons Mark J Bear (Deborah) and Joseph R Bear (Roberta)and as well as their 7 grandchildren, numerous great grandchildren andgreat-great grandchildren. A funeral will be held at Saint Patrick’s CatholicChurch in Anchorage, March 15, 2024 at 3PM with a reception following.Joseph’s remains will be laid to rest at Angelus Memorial Park later thisyear.