Jack Roderick (politician)

Last updated

Martha Martin
​
​
(m. 1955;died 2008)​
Jack Roderick
Jack Roderick Mayor of Anchorage.jpg
Mayor of Anchorage
In office
October 3, 1972 –September 16, 1975
Children2, including Libby
Relatives
Alma mater

John R. Roderick (March 16, 1926 - October 19, 2020) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the mayor of Anchorage, Alaska from 1972 to 1975.

Contents

Roderick with his father David Morgan Roderick Jack Roderick with father David Morgan Roderick.jpg
Roderick with his father David Morgan Roderick
Roderick as teenager Jack Roderick as teenager.jpg
Roderick as teenager

Early life and education

Originally from Seattle, Washington, Roderick was the son of a Presbyterian preacher who served in France during World War I. His parents divorced when he was 11 years old. [1] In an interview, he stated that he was not born to work in a big city and he wanted to be his own person. [2]

Roderick attended Broadway High School, graduating in 1944. Shortly after graduating high school, he went to London for a summer course in economics at the Leeds University, where he played basketball, football, and was a member of the track team as a teenager. [3] During his formative years, he continued to play football at Yale University. He volunteered to join the Navy Air Corps during WWII. He was described in the newspaper as a brilliant football player. [2] Subsequently, he was transferred to Yale University where he obtained a bachelor's degree in political science in 1949. [2] He turned down an $8,000[ clarification needed ] a year career with the Chicago Bears because of lower back problems and a dislocated elbow that caused him neck problems. [2] [ failed verification ]

During his college years, he was present in the crash of a DC-6 airplane that had been contracted by Yale University to bring students back to school after Christmas break. [1] The airplane was overloaded, crashing at takeoff, killing 14 students. [1] Roderick was one of three survivors, whose mother came to the scene of the accident, where she found him crying, dazed, and in a state of shock, while he was identifying his dead classmates. [3]

Adult life and higher education

Following graduation, he moved to Michigan, then San Francisco, but shortly after, he went to Alaska looking to make money. He found a job at a cannery located on Afognak Island, near Kodiak Island. He decided to remain in Alaska permanently by 1954. [1] During one of his trips, he met Martha Brady Martin and married her in 1955. [1] They were married until her death in 2008, and had two daughters, Libby and Selah. [4]

Roderick furthered his education by attending the University of Washington, School of Law, graduating with a J.D. in 1959. [1] After twenty years of working and raising a family, he decided to return to school, attending Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, where he obtained an M.P.A. (1981). [5]

Jack Roderick died at his home in Anchorage on October 19, 2020, at the age of 94. [6] Family and friends gathered at his house in Anchorage to find out the status of his health. [6] During his last days, shortly before the 2020 elections, he encouraged people to vote, and many admirers that came to his home to say goodbye and thanked him for his contributions to the community. [6]

Civic leadership

Jack Roderick contributed significantly to the civic life of Alaska. [3] As a young adventurous individual in need of money to support his growing family, he drove a truck as a Teamster, [7] a member of the international brotherhood that began in the early 1900. [7] He delivered goods and milk to the North Slope, and in one of those trips he had the idea of starting an oil scouting business called Alaska Scouting Service, later turning it into an enterprise of many businesses: Alaska Abstract Service, Petroleum Publications, Inc., Alaska Petroleum Directory, Alaska Map Service, Van Cleve Printing Company, Alaska Industry magazine, Alaska Title Guaranty Company, Alaska Pacific Capital Corporation (SBIC), and oil exploration companies, Ivy, Inc. (oil & gas leasing). [2] Later, in 1964, it turned into Alaska Exploration Corporation (geological, leasing and exploration). Another of his many accomplishments was Deputy commissioner of State Department of Natural Resources from 1976 to 1978, [1] followed by a position as Alaska Director of US Farmers' Home Administration in 1978.

Roderick began his law practice, opening a law firm called Stevens and Roderick (1961–63). After Senator Ted Stevens was appointed to work in Washington DC, the firm became Holland and Roderick (1969–70). [2] During the years 1967–68, Jack Roderick lived abroad with his daughters, Libby and Sarah, and his wife Martha, as a Regional Director of the U.S Peace Corps based in India. [2] Then in 1971–72, he served as a Public Affairs Consultant for Alyeska Pipeline.

Roderick became Mayor of the Borough of Anchorage (1972–75). [2] His campaign was managed by his brother David Roderick. During his public service as a mayor of Anchorage, he founded the public transit "People Mover" system, community schools, and The Anchorage Federation of Community Councils. [3] The Community Councils proved to be the contribution that made him the must proud, [5] because it gave to each neighborhood a voice in the issues and decisions of the town. [1] He encouraged local residents to participate in council and assembly meetings, and through civic engagement, he helped to establish Anchorage Trail Systems. [3] [8]

After attending Harvard Kennedy School, he became the Alaska State Energy Director, a member of the Oil and Gas Royalty Development Advisory Board in 1984–85. He became Chairman of the Alaska Democratic Party from1985-88. [9] In 1980–81, he began to research information to write his book Crude Dreams: A Personal History of Oil and Politics in Alaska that was finished and published by Epicenter Press in 1997. [1] In 1997, during the administration of President Bill Clinton, there was news about the possible nomination of Jack Roderick as a member of the Arctic Research Commission.

Roderick shared his life experience and expertise in business law as an adjunct professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and as an instructor teaching about Alaska's Oil Industry at the Alaska Pacific University. [1] He became part of the Chancellor's Advisory Board at UAA and also UAA's College of Fellows.

Legacy

One day, during lunch at his house with his wife, Martha, and his brother, tired of listening to him about how wrong the officials were going about helping the community, his wife asked him to run for Mayor in the election he eventually won. [5] Roderick's biggest legacy to the community of Anchorage was the Community Council, which has become the Anchorage Federation of Community Councils. The Community Council idea was taken from a mayor in the state of Oregon. [2] He served as a mayor of Anchorage from 1972 to 1975, managing a budget of $100 million and had 2,000 employees in a city of 175,000 people. [1] [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fran Ulmer</span> American politician

Frances Ann "Fran" Ulmer is an American administrator and Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. She served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Alaska from 1994 to 2002 under Governor Tony Knowles, becoming the first woman elected to statewide office in Alaska, and lost the 2002 gubernatorial election against Republican Frank Murkowski. In 2007 she became the Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), before serving as Chair of the United States Arctic Research Commission between 2011 and 2020, appointed by President Barack Obama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Knowles (politician)</span> Governor of Alaska from 1994 to 2002

Anthony Carroll Knowles is an American politician and businessman who served as the seventh governor of Alaska from 1994 to 2002. Barred from seeking a third consecutive term as governor in 2002, he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and again for governor in 2006. In September 2008, Knowles became president of the National Energy Policy Institute, a non-profit energy policy organization funded by billionaire George Kaiser's family foundation, and located at the University of Tulsa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Alaska System</span> Public university system in Alaska, United States

The University of Alaska System is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was created in 1917 and comprises three separately accredited universities on 19 campuses. The system serves nearly 30,000 full- and part-time students and offers 400 unique degree programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Alaska Anchorage</span> Public university in Anchorage, Alaska

The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna College, and Prince William Sound College. Between the community campuses and the main Anchorage campus, roughly 15,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students are currently enrolled at UAA. It is Alaska's largest institution of higher learning and the largest university in the University of Alaska System.

John Strohmeyer won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for his editorial writing on reducing racial tensions in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anchorage, Alaska</span> Consolidated city-borough in Alaska, United States

The Municipality of Anchorage is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population, and has more people than all of Northern Canada and Greenland combined. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 398,328 in 2020, accounting for more than half the state's population. At 1,706 sq mi (4,420 km2) of land area, the city is the fourth-largest by area in the United States and larger than the smallest state, Rhode Island, which has 1,212 sq mi (3,140 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elmer E. Rasmuson</span> American politician

Elmer Edwin Rasmuson was an American banker, philanthropist and politician in the territory and state of Alaska. He led the family business, National Bank of Alaska, for many decades as president and later chairman. He also served as Mayor of Anchorage from 1964 to 1967 and was the Republican nominee for United States Senator from Alaska in the 1968 election, losing the general election to Mike Gravel.

John E. Manders was Mayor of Anchorage, Alaska from 1945 to 1946 and a leading voice among opponents of Alaskan statehood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libby Roderick</span> American singer-songwriter

Libby Roderick is an American singer, songwriter, recording artist, poet, activist, and teacher. The global impact of her song "How Could Anyone" has been featured on CNN, on CBS, and in the Associated Press. Her music has been featured at the U.N. Conference on Women, with Coretta Scott King and Walter Cronkite in Washington D.C., and played on Mars by NASA. She has toured extensively throughout North America, playing at folk venues, conferences, and universities.

George Murray Sullivan was an American politician who served as the 26th mayor of the City of Anchorage from 1967 to 1975 and the 1st mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage from 1975 to 1981.

Thomas T. Anderson is a partner at Optima Public Relations in Anchorage, Alaska and also a radio talk show host of "Tom Anderson Show" (www.TomAndersonShow.com) on KVNT 92.5 FM and 1020 AM in Anchorage and Mat-Su Valley Alaska. Anderson is a former Alaska state representative for District 19 representing northeast Anchorage, Alaska. Anderson, a Republican, served in the Alaska Legislature for two terms, from 2003 until 2007, and became known for his sponsorship of legislation which expanded Alaska's DNA database to assist in forensic identification of criminal suspects through DNA testing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Wielechowski</span> American politician (born 1967)

Bill P. Wielechowski is an American lawyer serving as a Democratic member of the Alaska Senate representing District K. District K is located in Northeast Anchorage, Alaska. Prior to the 2022 redistricting process, he represented District H from 2013 to 2023. Wielechowski also previously represented District J from 2007 to 2013.

Legal education in Alaska refers to the history of efforts to educate Alaskans in the laws of the state, including the education of those representing themselves before the courts, paralegals and the continuing legal education of Alaskan lawyers after their admission to the Alaska Bar Association. Since becoming the 49th state of the United States on January 3, 1959 Alaska has not had a public, American Bar Association-accredited law school. A 1975 study by former Alaska Attorney General (1970–1973) John E. Havelock concluded that the state did not require a law school. Without a state law school, Alaska did not receive a 2001 distribution of the complete legal papers of Abraham Lincoln and the Alaska Law Review has been published outside Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Walker (American politician)</span> American attorney and politician (born 1951)

William Martin Walker is an American attorney and politician who served as the 11th governor of Alaska, from 2014 to 2018. He was the second Alaska-born governor, after William A. Egan.

Thomas Chung is an American visual artist and assistant professor of art and painting based in Anchorage Alaska whose work deals mainly with topics of globalization and healing culture. He is best known for the controversy surrounding his painting “Everything” that includes a depiction of the severed head of Donald Trump being held by actor Chris Evans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anchorage Trail Systems</span> Multiuse trails in Alaska

The trail system of Anchorage, Alaska spans 578 miles (930.2km). The Municipality of Anchorage created the first set of trail systems for recreation in the late 1950s, not developing a system that was commuter friendly until the mid 1960s. The trails, which are used primarily for recreation and commuter traffic, are heavily utilized year round for walking, biking, and skiing. Many of the trail systems in place that connect the city of Anchorage in a commuter-friendly way were kick started by John "Jack" Roderick, the first mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage, who held office from 1972-1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forrest Dunbar</span> American politician (born 1984)

Forrest Dunbar is an American politician, attorney, and military officer. He is a member of the Alaska Senate, representing Anchorage District J since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served on the Anchorage Assembly from 2016 to 2023. He is a major and Judge Advocate in the Alaska Army National Guard.

Darlene "Dalee" Sambo Dorough is an Iñupiaq advocate for Indigenous rights as well as an expert in international human rights law, international relations, and Alaska Native rights. Dorough was part of the Alaskan tribal sovereignty movement for decades and served on the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2011 to 2016. In 2018 she was elected Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, representing the 180,000 Inuit, Yupik, and Chukchi peoples in the Russian Far East, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Havelock</span> Attorney General of Alaska (1971–1973)

John Eric Havelock was the Attorney General of Alaska from 1971 to 1973, a champion of individual privacy and Native American resource and subsistence rights. Born in Toronto, Canada, Havelock moved to the United States and attended first boarding school, then Harvard University for an undergraduate degree and a Juris Doctor degree before moving to Alaska. After working for the Alaska Department of Law, Havelock worked as staff at the White House before his appointment as Attorney General of Alaska in 1970.

David Roderick was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served in the Washington House of Representatives from 1948 to 1952.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 John R. “Jack” Roderick papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage (2002). "Jack Roderick's Biography 2002" (PDF). Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kushner, Andy (June 7, 2017). "Jack Roderick: A Pioneer of The Last Frontier" . Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Project 49: Jack Roderick". Project 49: Jack Roderick.
  4. ↑ Theriault Boots, Michelle (October 21, 2020). "Jack Roderick, former mayor who made enduring contributions to Anchorage, dies at 94". Anchorage Daily News.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Seward Lecture: Mayor Jack Roderick, 'Politics in Alaska'" . Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 Anchorage news, Jack Roderick: A Mayor’s Memoir (July 28, 2015). "Jack Roderick: A Mayor's Memoir". Anchorage Daily News.
  7. 1 2 "Teamsters History". January 14, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Municipality of Anchorage Bike trail map" (PDF). Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  9. ↑ Barto, Malia (October 23, 2020). "Former Anchorage borough Mayor Jack Roderick has died". MSN . Retrieved November 19, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.