Obituary: Geraldine (Savikko) Straty

After 90 years of exploration, Geraldine (Savikko) Straty transitioned peacefully on April 19, 2026, after a very brief illness. Geraldine was born in St. Martinville, Louisiana, on Nov. 24, 1935, to Leonce and Mabel Boudreaux. She went to grade and high school in St. Martinville, then began an adventure of a lifetime to Alaska. At 18 years old, she went on vacation to Alaska with her cousin, Nell (Peltier) Savikko.

Geraldine (Savikko) Straty

They drove from Louisiana to Haines with Nell’s husband, Bernhart (Ben) Savikko and their three children, then ferried from Haines to Tee Harbor on the M/V Chilkoot. She had met Ben’s brother, Robert (Bob) Savikko in Louisiana, and after getting reacquainted with him in Douglas, she never returned home. They were married in September 1954 and had three children: Albert, Bern and Coreen.

Both families were close and enjoyed fishing and boating together. They traveled to Louisiana in the summers when the kids were young and visited relatives in California and Texas along the way. Her parents were farmers and summer visits involved picking sugar cane and watermelon out of the fields, harvesting and shucking beans, and enjoying the warm weather.

After Bob and his friend Erkki Keskinen were lost while moose hunting up Taku River in 1972, Geraldine went to business school at the local Community College. She worked for Eero Volkswagen with her sister-in-law, Martha Savikko.

In 1979, Geraldine met and married Richard (Dick) Straty. They enjoyed many fall trips to Lake Telaquana in Dick’s floatplane. While Dick hunted for moose, Geraldine would pick berries and cook up the fruits of their labor. Dick had built his log cabin on the shores of the lake, and they enjoyed boating, fishing, and visiting with their good friends and park volunteers, Jeanette and Jerry Mills. They also flew to neighboring lakes to visit Jay Hammond at Lake Clark and deliver cookies to Richard (Dick) Proenneke at Twin Lakes. Dick charter fished the Salty Dawg in Juneau with Geraldine as his deckhand. They lived at Tee Harbor for 33 years until Dick passed away in 2012.

Geraldine loved foreign travel, hiking, and skiing. She developed many lifelong friendships in the CBJ hike program. She was quite an adventurer, visiting Coreen in Kenya and Madagascar back when traveling to such places was really “roughing it.” She enjoyed trips with friends and family to Machu Picchu, China, Italy, Canada and many other places.

Geraldine leaves behind a brother, Alfred Boudreaux, in Louisiana, and many other friends and relatives.

The family would like to thank the staff at the Juneau Pioneer’s Home for their loving care over the past three years and Dr. Standerwick and her staff for the great care they provided for Geraldine over her lifetime.

There will be a Celebration of Life held at Sandy Beach in Savikko Shelter #2 (the cabin) on July 6, 2026, from 1 to 3 p.m. Geraldine’s friends and relatives are invited to join the family in celebrating a long life, well lived in a community she called home.