Alaska home economics teacher Patricia Roppel also earned fame as a historian and author. Photo Credit: SitNews.

Many excellent classroom teachers earn recognition for endeavors outside of the classroom. One of these is Patricia Roppel, a home economics teacher from Alaska who also earned fame as a historian and author.

Patricia was born April 5, 1938, in Ellensburg, Washington. As a young woman, she earned her degree in Home Economics from Oregon State University. As a young co-ed, she was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority. Patricia moved to Alaska in 1959, where she accepted a position as a home economics teacher at Ketchikan High School. She taught there until 1965.

In March of 1965, Patricia published her first article in the Alaska Sportsman. Over the next 50 years, she published 13 books and more than 100 articles about the history of southeast Alaska. In her writings, she expertly described the industries of the region, including mining, salmon fishing, hatcheries, and canning. For this work, she was honored as Alaska Historian of the Year in both 1978 and 2006.

In 1975, Alaska Governor Jay Hammond appointed the veteran educator to his newly-formed Alaska Historical Commission. She served on this body until 1983. Among the Commission’s tasks was the writing of a new high school textbook about the history of the state. In 1991, the former teacher was appointed by Governor Wally Hickel to the Alaska Humanities Forum, a position she held until 1996. In 2003, Patricia was once again named to the Alaska Historical Commission by Governor Tony Knowles. She served in this role until 2015. In addition, Patricia was one of the founding board members of Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture (SSRA).

Sadly, Patricia passed away from cancer in Bellevue, Washington, on January 6, 2015. You can read more about her in her obituary, published by SitNews.