Egan, William A.

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1914-10-08
Death 1984-05-06

Biographical notes:

1914 Born on October 8 in Valdez, Alaska, to Cora Allen Egan and William E. Egan. 1921 Father killed in a snowslide. Mother raised the family of eight children. 1932 Graduated from Valdez High School. 1932 1943 Held various jobs, including cannery laborer, truckdriver, bartender, gold miner, fisherman, aviator, and retail clerk. 1937 Elected to Valdez City Council. 1940 Married Neva McKrittick on November 16. Elected to the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives from the Third Judicial Division. 1941 Wrote and introduced the first bill for a territorial referendum on statehood for Alaska. Daughter Elin Carol born in December, but died at the age of seven months following a brief illness. 1943 Reelected to the Territorial House of Representatives. 1943 1946 Served for three years in the U.S. Army Infantry and Air Corps, Ladd Field, Fairbanks, Alaska. 1946 Elected mayor of Valdez while still serving in the military. Did not know that his name had been placed on the ballot. 1946 1956 Owned and operated the Valdez Supply Company, a general merchandise store. 1947 Reelected to the Territorial House of Representatives. Son Dennis born in Juneau. 1949 Reelected to the Territorial House of Representatives. 1951 Reelected to the Territorial House of Representatives. Elected speaker of the House of Representatives. 1953 Elected to the Territorial Senate. 1955 1956 Reelected to the Territorial Senate. Served as a delegate to and president of the Alaska Constitutional Convention, which convened November 8, 1955. 1956 1958 Elected as one of Alaska's Tennessee Plan senators. Lived in Washington, D.C., and lobbied for Alaska statehood until the passage of the Alaska Statehood Act, June 30, 1958. 1958 Elected governor of Alaska by an overwhelming margin. 1959 Inaugurated in January as the first elected governor of Alaska. Hospitalized in Seattle immediately after the inauguration for surgery and recuperation until June 1959. 1960 Elected vice-chairman of the Western Governors' Conference. 1961 Elected chairman of the Western Governors' Conference. 1962 Reelected governor of Alaska. 1966 Defeated in bid for reelection by Walter Hickel. 1966 1967 Sales representative, Equitable Life Insurance Company, Anchorage. 1967 1969 President, West Coast Mortgage and Investment Company, Inc. and Security Income Corporation, Seattle. 1970 Elected governor of Alaska for the third time. 1971 Named Alaskan of the Year. 1972 Awarded an honorary LL.D., University of Alaska. 1974 Defeated by Jay Hammond in a reelection bid for his fourth term. 1984 Died May 6.

From the guide to the William A. Egan Papers, 1940-1984, (University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Polar Regions Collections & Archives)

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