Jon Megler Girard
May 1, 1943 -
Nov 9, 2025
John Megler "Meg" Girard passed away on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, at 9:52 p.m., at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska.
His memorial service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, from 1-4 p.m., at Angelus Memorial Park, 440 E. Klatt Road in Anchorage.
He passed away in his sleep, just a few minutes after telling the nurse that he was comfortable in bed. In his unique manner, he had joked with the nurse just minutes before he passed away. Meg's son-in-law, Chuck Lund, spoke with him on Sunday morning, and Meg said: "As soon as they raise my blood pressure a bit, you'll take me home so I can bake your favorite cookies for you!" His wife, Natalia, spoke with him about an hour and a half before his passing, and he said his usual: "I love you, I'll be home tomorrow!"
Meg was born on May 1, 1943, in Aberdeen, Wash. In the 1960s, he moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, where he earned his degree in electrical engineering from University of Alaska Fairbanks. In the 1960s, he served in the U.S. National Guard. Meg was a veteran and served his country as an electrical engineer and in the military.
Meg first married Sherry Wallingford on May 26, 1973, and they had two sons: Jason and Web. After their marriage ended, he married Natalia Mikhalskaya from Magadan, Russia, on Nov. 4, 1993. This marriage lasted 33 years until the last day of Meg's life.
Meg left us without pain or suffering. Meg was profoundly exhausted by his four-year daily struggle for his life, which began on May 13, 2021, when a cardiologist, during a procedure before a heart valve replacement, carelessly ruptured his esophagus. This injury could not be repaired. From that point on, he fought for his life. For seven long months, he was fed through a tube and underwent numerous life-threatening surgeries that drained him. Due to him being bed-ridden for seven months, he lost the ability to eat and live independently. He had to relearn how to eat and drink water drop by drop, to walk with the aid of a walker, but he continued to smile at the sun and his loved ones! He bravely battled for four exhausting years, maintaining an incredibly positive and loving attitude.
Meg was a quiet person, but he carried out significant and large projects for others. Professionally, as an electrical engineer, he designed countless buildings in Anchorage and throughout Alaska. He was an honorary member of the International Association of Electrical Inspectors. He always helped people both in his personal life and through various community organizations that he was a part of for many years: Masons, Shriners, Scottish Rite, Rotary International and the Anchorage Amateur Radio Club, where he served as president and member from 1976 to 2006. His call sign was KL7FHF. He loved people and generously shared everything he had. In his home, many in need found both food and shelter. Throughout his life, he was eager to give, never taking or asking for anything for himself, except for one thing: in 1993, he brought his future wife from Magadan, Russia. For 33 years of their marriage, he cared for her and for all those who came under his care.
In 2000, he became the founding father of the Russian-American Choir RACS, the Russian-American Colony Singers, a choir that Meg funded for 17 years.
He loved nature very much. His favorite place was his small cabin on Red Shirt Lake, and all his neighbors on the lake were his good friends.
He dearly loved animals—cats and dogs—who were his constant companions throughout his life. Meg donated to several organizations dedicated to helping animals.
Meg left behind his loving family: beloved wife, Natalia Girard; two sons, Jason and Web Girard; daughter-in-law, Emily Girard; granddaughters, Isea and Alness; stepdaughter, Zlata Lund and her son Yaroslav and husband Chuck Lund.
He was a very gentle man with a very big heart. Rest in peace, our dear and beloved Meg. You will remain in the memory of many whose lives you helped or changed for the better.
Now you have become our guardian angel.
Eternal memory to you, dear father!
