Mary Carr

Dec 4, 1931 -

Mar 13, 2026

64-year Wasilla resident, Mary Carr, known to her family as Grandma Grandma, passed away from complications from dementia on March 13, 2026. She was 94 years old. Mary's warm smile lit up every room she entered; a lasting memory for all who knew her. She will be fondly remembered for her two superpowers: cooking and fishing. She could make a delicious meal out of scraps, and she could catch a fish in a mud puddle!

Every day in the final two weeks of her life, she was serenaded at her bedside by family and friends who gathered to sing goodbye.

Mary was born on Dec. 4, 1931, in Polson, Mont., to parents Pauline Ann (Rau) Knutson and Father John Arther Knutson, a survivor of the historic Lost Battalion of World War I. Mary's mother died when she was 2 years old, so was driven to live on-again, off-again with both sets of grandparents.

Mary married Derald "Red" Carr in 1959. The family moved to Alaska in January 1962 via an old-style DC-6 prop plane. They partnered with Mary's brother to purchase the Ted Knutson property on Fairview Loop to become potato farmers.

Mary worked as the head baker at the Mat-Su School District Central Kitchen located at Iditarod Elementary School, 1973-1988.

She was a member of the VFX Auxiliary, Pioneers of Alaska, Homemaker's Club, and a Valley Gardening Club Charter member.

She was a woman of opinion and wisdom. Her most notorious judicious words voiced to her family were, "If you cuss, your tongue will turn black and fall right off!" Young listeners were often left wide-eyed!

In the early 60s, Mary started the Plump Stump Sister's Band along with two friends. A highlight for the band was their performance at Anchorage's Westward Hotel.

After retirement, she and Red enjoyed travelling in their RV across North and Central America. Most summers were spent at Deep Creek where they enjoyed navigating the Cook Inlet aboard their C-Dory, The Mary Red.

Mary is preceded in death by two brothers, Jim and Bill Knutson. She is survived by her husband, Red Carr; children, Gary Buchman (Meredith), Paula Groundwater (Lance) and John Carr Sr. (Brenda); grandchildren, John Groundwater (Shannon), Katie Tsigonis (Abe), John Carr Jr. (Cassie), James Carr and Kimberley Boitz (Wayne); and numerous greatgrandchildren, nieces and nephews.