In each issue of The Alaska Miner, we interview an outstanding leader in and member of our industry. This time we are talking with Jan Hill, the newest member of the Haines branch of AMA’s board of directors. Faces of Mining
Jan Hill A lifetime of service
BY LEE LESCHPER If you looked up “service” in an Alaska dictionary, you might find Jan Hill’s picture. Jan Hill is the newest member of the Haines branch of AMA’s board of directors. A lifelong resident of Haines, she’s a past mayor of the Southeast Alaska community and a self-described “community servant” who advocates pas - sionately for resource development of all kinds to benefit Southeast Alaska in general, and Haines, in particular. She’s a past board member of the Southeast Confer - ence and a current member of the Alcohol Beverage Control Board and the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consor - tium Board of Directors. Hill served four terms as mayor of Haines, and prior to that, served on the Haines Borough Assembly, as well as the president of the Chilkoot Indian Association tribe. She laughs at questions about her diverse resume. “Yes, I wear a lot of hats. Mother raised us to be busy and involved and in service. My profession? Call me a public servant. I love being involved. “I’ve lived in Haines all my life. My family’s been here for generations. I was born in Skagway because there was no doctor in Haines but there was a hospital in Skagway. “Haines has always been my home. I went off to college but kept coming back.” She took a break after a couple of years, came back to Haines and worked as a teachers’ aide in the public schools, before finishing her degree in preschool education. “I came back and instead of teaching, wrote the curricu- lum for and brought Head Start to Haines. I was the teacher
director for seven years. I’m very proud of that … kids that were my Head Start kids now have kids and maybe even grandkids in Head Start.” Her experience and life - long support for mining is what’s good for her commu- nity. “The only time I would
say I worked in industry was up in the Porcupine region here. My husband was working in a small commercial mine operation, and I was the camp cook for five months!” She gives her parents and grandparents credit for her dedication to service. “We were raised in a very different time. I also had the advantage of being raised in the small town of Haines. It’s kind of hokie, but it does take a village to raise a child. And I’m proud to be raised by this village!” “We were raised to work. We always had chores and earned an allowance when our chores were done.” She reflects fondly on that simpler time. “We picked out our (two a year) dresses from the Sears catalog. At some point I decided I wanted more than that, so my Dad said it must be time to get a job! I started babysit - ting and working every little job in Haines.” Her great-grandparents came to Haines in 1898 for the then gold rush. They homesteaded on land Jan still owns. Jan doesn’t separate her support for mining from her belief in all responsible resource development. “I grew up with parents who always worked somehow in resource development. Dad was a commercial fisherman and worked as a longshoreman in the logging industry.” Alaska is changing in large part because of new chal- lenges and new residents, she said. “Haines has changed a great deal, and not the little changes you’d expect like paved streets. There’s still no stoplight. “But different people have moved here with different ideas and philosophies. We’d have these discussions when I was mayor. Haines is like a big family to me. We might fight among ourselves, but God help somebody who picks on us! “And if anybody needs help, the whole community pitches in. For example, my husband got cancer and we ended up without insurance. It was a big deal and we spent six months in hospitals in Seattle. The community had a fundraiser at the legion hall, and they raised over $20,000 for us. And it happens all the time here.” Her outlook on a changing Alaska and the need to edu - cate newcomers is clear and straightforward. “With the changes that got to the way society is, that we can’t be as self-sufficient as we used to be. People have
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Jan with Southeast legislators Bill Egan and Bill Thomas.
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The Alaska Miner
Winter 2022
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