Mary Louise Aspelund

May 27, 1934 -

May 21, 2023

Mary Louise Aspelund, 88 years old, of Naknek, Alaska, passed away on May 21, 2023, surrounded by loved ones in Anchorage. Funeral arrangements were made at Janssen's Evergreen Memorial Chapel. A Celebration of Life will be held in Naknek in late July 2023; a time is yet to be announced.

Mary Lou was born in Port Heiden, Alaska, to George and Mary Irons on May 27, 1934. She spent her childhood on the Alaska Peninsula before moving to Southeast, where she attended high school at Mount Edgecumbe in Sitka, Alaska. After high school she met Allan Aspelund of Naknek, and they married on Nov. 17, 1954.

Allan and Mary Lou raised three sons together: Darrell, Allan Jr. and Farrell. Allan and Mary Lou commercially fished together and owned and operated Al Lou's Bed & Breakfast in Naknek. Mary Lou also worked as a media technician and cafeteria cook for the Bristol Bay School District until she retired.

Mary Lou was very active in the outdoors and enjoyed spending time with friends and family boating, camping, fishing and flying. Mary Lou also enjoyed a subsistence lifestyle; she loved catching and putting up salmon, picking berries, hunting and cooking for family and friends. Her hobbies included bingo, dancing, looking for agates, playing board and card games, and she enjoyed traveling, especially to Las Vegas and Hawaii. Mary Lou worked tirelessly for her community, assisting with fundraisers, feeding traveling students, and she and Allan fostered children from surrounding villages so they could attend school.

Mary Lou was preceded in death by her parents, George and Mary Irons; brothers, George and William Irons; sisters, Mabel and Alice; youngest son, Farrell; and grandson, Allan Riddle.

Mary Lou is survived by her husband, Allan Sr.; sons, Darrell and Allan Jr.; sisters, Winnie, Josie and Jeanne; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. She will be deeply missed by everyone who knew her and will be fondly remembered as a community matriarch.