Thelma Catherine Engstrom (née Wait) (September 9, 1905 – February 7, 1957) was a teacher, columnist and legislator in Alaska. Born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, Engstrom graduated from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in 1926. She taught school in Neppel, Washington and then in Wrangell and

Douglas, Alaska Douglas is a community on Douglas Island in southeastern Alaska, directly across the Gastineau Channel from downtown Juneau. History Douglas Island was originally a border of the Auke people’s and Taku people’s territory. It was not usually ...

. Engstrom was a columnist for in ''Juneau Daily Press'' in

Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

. Engstrom served on the Douglas School Board. From 1947 to 1949, Engstrom served in the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives. Engstrom died from a brain tumor after emergency surgery at the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...

. Her husband,

Elton Engstrom Sr. Elton Egedeous Engstrom Sr. (June 6, 1905 — January 30, 1963) was an American businessman and politician. Born in Wrangell, Alaska, Engstrom went to the Wrangell High School and to the University of Washington. He was in the family fishing busi ...

was born in

Wrangell, Alaska The City and Borough of Wrangell ( tli, Ḵaachx̱ana.áakʼw, russian: Врангель) is a borough in Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 2,127, down from 2,369 in 2010. Incorporated as a Unified Home Rule Bor ...

, and went to the

. He was in the family fishing business in Wrangell, Alaska and

. He served on the

City Council and as mayor of Douglas in 1943 and 1944. He was the Alaska Territory Republican Party chair in 1945 and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention from Alaska Territory in 1956. From 1951 to 1954 and 1957–1958, Elton represented the 1st District in the Alaska Territorial Senate. After Alaska became a state, he served in the Alaska State Senate from 1961 until his death in 1963. Engstrom died in a hospital in Juneau, Alaska following a heart attack.'State Senator E. Engstrom Dies At 57,' ''Fairbanks Daily News Miner,'' January 31, 1963, pg. 1, 7 Their son, attorney Elton Engstrom, Jr., served in both the Alaska House and Senate, and his daughter,

Cathy Muñoz Catherine Norah "Cathy" Muñoz (née Engstrom; born June 23, 1964) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives, who from 2009 to 2017 represented the 34th District. She served as Co-Chair of the ...

, served four terms in the Alaska House, representing Juneau, 2009–2017.

Notes

External links

Brief political graveyard bio

American legislative leaders in the West, 1911-1994

Thelma Engstrom
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' 1905 births 1957 deaths Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Juneau, Alaska) Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Minnesota Neurological disease deaths in Minnesota Educators from Alaska 20th-century American educators 20th-century American women educators Educators from Washington (state) Journalists from Alaska Members of the Alaska Territorial Legislature Politicians from Seattle School board members in Alaska University of Washington alumni Women territorial legislators in Alaska 20th-century American legislators 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American women journalists {{Alaska-politician-stub