By Heather Lende

Former resident Ellen Carmen Loomis died April 21 in Tacoma of a blood infection. She was 85.

Friend Louise Smith of Haines said she and Loomis chaperoned dances, volunteered for the American Legion Auxiliary and Emblem Club, and enjoyed each other’s company. Loomis was outgoing and outspoken, Smith said.

"If she had something she wanted to tell you, she’d definitely tell you," said son Craig Loomis.

After years of travel in Alaska and the Lower 48 for military jobs, Loomis, her husband Jerry and four children came to Haines following his discharge in 1962. They bought part of an old homestead, about 140 acres, at 2.5 Mile Haines Highway.

The downpayment included the family’s truck. "We ate beans and moose meat and more moose meat and beans for a whole year" to help pay for it, Craig said.

His mother was a devoted mom, and a gardener, but a terrible cook, Loomis said. She used the wrong ingredients and was too frugal to throw out the results. Her children grew up eating lumpy cream of wheat and strawberries with salt instead of sugar.

Carmen liked to dance the jitterbug with her husband and play Bingo while nursing a screwdriver. The Loomises began wintering Outside in the mid-1980s, and recently settled in Washington, but still returned for annual visits.

Ellen Carmen Stone was born in Seattle Nov. 11, 1922. She met Jerry Loomis at Roosevelt High School. She served in the WACS during the last nine months of WW II. She and Jerry married Nov. 22, 1946 in Fairbanks, where the Army stationed him. He specialized in communication and the family lived in Tok, Kodiak, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Washington, Arizona, New Jersey and California.

Sherry Loomis said her mother-in-law was a pioneer, often foregoing hot water, electricity and other modern conveniences. She went on family hunting trips and always had a dog. "She made the best of whatever situation she was in. I don’t think she ever lived in a finished home, but her door was always open for anyone that needed a hand."

Survivors include her husband Jerry of Lakebay, Wash.; sons Craig of Haines, Robert of Longview, Texas, Jerry of Sumner, Wash.; daughter Bonnie Loomis of Escondido, Calif.; 9 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.