George Vaara
George Vaara (May 26, 1899 – July 26, 1976) was mayor of Anchorage, Alaska from 1940 to 1941.
Biography
[edit]George Vaara was born May 26, 1899, in Ada, Minnesota. He moved to Anchorage in 1923 and worked as a clerk in a Piggly Wiggly grocery store. In the 1930s, he opened a notions store called Vaara Varieties. He was elected president of the Anchorage School Board in 1939.[1]
Vaara was elected mayor in 1940 in the midst of a housing shortage brought on by the arrival of military personnel preceding the construction of Fort Richardson. He served a single term.
Vaara built a Pepsi-Cola plant on Fifth Avenue in 1943, selling it fifteen years later.
In 1958, Vaara made a bid for nomination as the Republican candidate for governor of the new state of Alaska.[2][3] He withdrew several days later, citing a "heated controversy" between factions of the party.[4]
Vaara moved to Seattle, Washington in 1960. He died at his home in Seattle on July 26, 1976, following a year of incapacitation due to a stroke.
References
[edit]- ^ "School Board Elected". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Fairbanks, AK. April 19, 1939. p. 8. Retrieved January 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Anchorage Man Governor Hopeful". Medford Mail Tribune. Medford, OR. July 29, 1958. p. 5. Retrieved January 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "5th Candidate Seeks Alaska Governorship". The Capital Journal. Salem, OR. July 29, 1958. p. 16. Retrieved January 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Factional Strife Leaves Wounds on Anchorage Republicans". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Fairbanks, AK. July 30, 1958. p. 11. Retrieved January 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Former Mayor Dies In Seattle", Anchorage Times, p. 2, July 28, 1976
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