Gastineau Channel Memories

Grummett, Stanley V. & Grace L. (Pinkston)

Mike Grummett

Stanley Vincent Grummett was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on August 11, 1903, the son of Arthur and Annie Grummett. Arthur was assistant general freight manager for the Great Northern Railroad. Arthur was also one of the many gold seekers in 1898, traveling up the Inside Passage to Skagway. He reportedly recorded his trip in a diary that was lost over the years, but it was known that he was in Juneau long enough to sign the register at the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church at Third and Gold Streets. Not much else is known about the trip but it is thought that he went only as far as Skagway and shortly thereafter returned to St. Paul, Minnesota.

Arthur was transferred to Seattle a few years after Stan?s birth. Stan attended Broadway High School in Seattle. When he graduated he was the first student of the school to have been awarded letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football and track.

In 1928, Stan arrived in Juneau. He began working for the A.J. Mining Co. in April while also playing centerfield for its baseball team. After a brief absence from Alaska, he returned to work in 1932. In 1933, he began managing the Juneau Insurance Agency, a business he purchased in January, 1945, and which later became Grummett Insurance Agency. He operated the agency until he suffered a major stroke in 1954, after which his wife Grace entered the business. Until his illness and death on November 17, 1962, Stan enjoyed
an active volunteer life in Juneau, which included serving as a member of the Juneau City Council and Juneau Rotary Club, a founder of Alaska Pacific Bank and the Gastineau Channel Little League, and as the Alaska Association of Insurance Agents? first secretary.

Grace Grummett was born Grace Lee Pinkston on January 1, 1904, in Bruneau, Idaho, the daughter of Jess and Ada Mae Pinkston. She attended high school in Boise and business college in Nampa, Idaho, and soon afterward went to work for the U.S. Forest Service. She transferred from John Day, Oregon, to Juneau in 1932, where she worked until she wed Stan Grummett on April 14, 1934. Although she lacked experience in the insurance field, when Stan suffered a stroke in August, 1954, Grace entered the family business. She remained with Grummett Insurance Agency until retirement in 1967, after her sons, Mike and Roger, had completed college and were established in the agency. During her life in Juneau, Grace was active in the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and many volunteer activities including Quota Club, P.E.O., Pioneers of Alaska and the Heart Association. She was also a stockholder in Shattuck and Grummett, Inc. after it was formed in 1971. Grace continued to live on Gastineau Channel until her death on March 1, 1990.

Stan and Grace Grummett had two sons, Michael Arthur, born July 9,1937, and John Roger, born May 25, 1942.

Mike Grummett married Jean Burrus in 1961, and three sons were born to them: Terrence Roger on
February 28, 1962; Kenneth Patrick on June 25, 1963, and Jeffrey Leonard on July 21, 1965.

Roger Grummett married Karleen Alstead in Juneau July 31, 1964. Their son John Stanley was born
January 10, 1967, and their daughter, Stacy Jean Alstead, was born January 31, 1970.

Mike Grummett married DeeAnn Hardman on January 31, 1981.

Stan and Grace Grummett loved Alaska and loved living in Juneau. Their early years together are recorded in photo albums and scrap books reminiscent of Juneau in an era when picnics were mostly held at Sandy Beach in Douglas and day hikes meant high laced boots with jodhpurs for the men and women. Most photos show the men wearing ties, as well. Gracie often entertained her family, recollecting the days when she was a single young woman living at the Zynda Hotel. She said she knew when it was time to prepare for an evening outing with Stan when she could see the lights of the carbide miner?s lamps, illuminating the winding trail from the mine, as the miners returned from their day?s work. For many years Stan and Gracie hosted Sunday afternoon picnic suppers at their Lena Beach cabin where all who cared to could play a round of golf on a 9 hole, par 18 course.

Stan and Grace never seriously considered living anywhere else and for that their children and grandchildren are thankful.

	Grace and Stan Grummett, 1933.