In Memoriam: Lee Clune, Distinguished Leader in Resource Education
Long-term Alaskan resident, Leland Arthur Clune, 78, died Sept. 9 at Alaska Regional Hospital following a heart attack at his home in Anchorage, where he was surrounded by loved ones. Lee was born Jan. 7, 1946, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Jeanette and Arthur Clune. He first moved to Alaska at three months of age, on an Alaska Airlines flight piloted by his dad, He lived in Alaska until he was six. He attended schools in Idaho, Oregon and graduated from Sammamish High School in Washington in 1964. Lee married the love of his life, Debbie Kersey in 1966 in Fruitland, Idaho. Lee was a member of the Army National Guard in Washington and Idaho until honorably discharged in 1968. He graduated from Boise State University in 1972, earned his Master of Education at the University of Alaska in 1975, and worked on obtaining his doctorates in Hawaii. The staff of Alaska Resource Education shared their thoughts on Lee’s early work in resource education here. “The team at Alaska Resource Education and all our resource industries were sad to hear of the recent
passing of Lee Clune, previous executive director of ARE (at that time known as the Alaska Mineral and Energy Resource Education Fund). During his career, Lee worked towards the development and expansion of preparing Alaska K-12 students for the world of work. “
He began his career in education in the early 1970s with the then Fairbanks City School District as a career education teacher and program coordinator. He joined the State of Alaska Department of Education in 1980 as a program manager and eventually State Director of Career and Vocation/Technical Education. The remainder of his K-12 public school career (24 years) was spent as an assistant and Superintendent of School in Nome, Yakutat, and the Delta/Greely School Districts. After his “retirement” in 1996 he served as an adjunct faculty member of UAA’s Department of Educational Leadership. He was the executive director of the Alaska Mineral and Energy Resource Education Fund (AMEREF) from 2006-2008.
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November 2024 I The Alaska Miner I www.alaskaminers.org
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