Saapsis ilpilp (Red Moccasin Tops), also known as Alexius Michael Pinkham Jr., moved forward on his journey while at home surrounded by family Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.
Known in Alaska as “Uncle Alex” and in the lower 48 as “Uncle Mike,” he was born Dec. 23, 1924, at Stites on the Nez Perce Reservation. His parents are the late Alexius M. Pinkham Sr., and the late Annette Blackeagle.
He was working on the family farm near Lenore when both he and high school friend and neighbor, Ernie Anderson, volunteered for service after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He served in the U.S. Navy from June 25, 1943, to March 9, 1946, as a gunner assigned to the Armed Guard Center Pacific. He was tasked with protecting both military and merchant vessels delivering troops and supplies, primarily in the Pacific.
While serving on the USS Brookings transferring troops from Europe to the Pacific, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. He turned 21 on board ship in Tokyo Bay and was honorably discharged three months later as Seaman First Class. He was awarded the Asiatic Pacific Area Campaign Medal, American Area Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal. The Navy provided his introduction to Alaska during a deployment protecting merchant ships delivering supplies along the Alaska coast and Aleutian Islands.
After the war, he received diesel mechanic training in California and then worked seasonally as a forest firefighter and survey crewman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Yakama Indian Reservation in Washington state.
Looking for full-time opportunities and a new start, he departed for the Territory of Alaska in his 1955 Willys Jeep on May 21, 1956. He homesteaded a parcel of federal land at Bird Creek outside Anchorage, where he built a log cabin. He worked for the Alaska Native Hospital in maintenance and as an ambulance driver. At the hospital he met Maryanne Hennigan and they were married for 40 years. Together, they built a home at Bird Creek and traveled across the country. Later, he worked for and retired from the Alaska Railroad. After 40 years of marriage, Maryanne died Jan. 19, 2006. In 2017, he relocated to the Thomas Center for Senior Leadership in Anchorage.
In the spring of 2019, he made his final visit to Nez Perce country where the tribe honored him as their last surviving World War II veteran and oldest citizen. In addition to the ceremony, he took a jet boat trip up the Snake and Salmon rivers with his brothers, took to the mountains in a Willys Jeep, and did television and newspaper interviews. In the fall, he joined 21 other veterans on Alaska’s Last Frontier Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. His Mission 13 Honor Flight team visited memorials and observed ceremonies that commemorate service and sacrifice in all branches of the military.
He was preceded in death by his wife and parents, as well as sisters Audrey “Audie” Redheart, Priscilla Pinkham, Loretta “Lonnie” Alexander, and Bernadine “Bernie” Greene, and brothers Leroy (infant) and Albert “Sandy” Pinkham Sr. He is survived by brothers Alfred, Alvin Sr. and Allen Sr. all residing at Nez Perce country, plus numerous nieces and nephews and many who grew close in love and respect to call him their Uncle Alex or Uncle Mike. His family wishes to recognize his Alaska “nephew” Jeff Wilchek and his family for the love, friendship and support they provided during his life in Alaska.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Alaska’s Last Frontier Honor Flight, www.lastfrontierhonorflight.com/index.html.
Services in Anchorage will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. He will return to Nez Perce country for dressing services at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Nez Perce Longhouse followed by Catholic Prayer Service at 7 p.m. at the Longhouse; Walahsat services to follow — 12 songs officiated by Ron Pinkham. Walahsat and military graveside services will be 8 a.m. Monday at the Coyote Gulch Cemetery.
