JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Longtime Alaska fisheries biologist Rupe Andrews has died in Juneau. He was 77.
Andrews, who died at his home Wednesday, was one of the first biologists in the sport fish division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Cause of death was attributed to complications from colon cancer, the Juneau Empire reported in Friday’s edition.
“He was just an old-time Alaskan that loved Alaska and the spirit that was in this state,” said his son, Brian Andrews.
Rupe Andrews stepped down from the state Board of Fisheries on March 1.
Born in New Haven, Conn., he moved to Alaska in 1959. Before retiring from the fish and game department in 1982, he spent 13 years as director of the agency’s sport fish division.
Andrews had a balanced perspective when it came to resource management, said Bob Thorstenson, president of the United Fishermen of Alaska.
“He was one of the stalwarts of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for decades,” Thorstenson said. “He was a part of the team that brought 20th century and 21st century fish and wildlife management to the pinnacle of success in Alaska.”
Andrews lived for public service, said daughter-in-law Joyce Andrews. “Alaska was just such a huge part of who he was,” she said. “He was part of Alaska, but Alaska was part of him.”
Beside the fisheries board, Andrews also served on the Alaska Board of Forestry and the Alaska Trails and Recreation Commission.
He spent eight years on the public advisory group to the Exxon Valdez Board of Trustees and nearly a decade as a field representative for the National Rifle Association for Alaska.
At the time of his death, Andrews was a board member of Cancer Connection, a Juneau nonprofit group.
“He fought to the end, and he was a true champion of commercial and sport and subsistence fishing and guided fishing and hunting,” Thorstenson said.
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Information from: Juneau Empire, http://www.juneauempire.com
AP-ES-03-30-07 1648EDT
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