MAT-SU mourns Mayor Menard

MAT-SU BOROUGH—The Matanuska-Susitna Borough lost its dear Mayor today. Curtis D. Menard, 64, died this morning.

“Curt was a great person and always a champion of the public,” said Borough Manager John Duffy. “When he worked with you it didn't matter if you were a CEO or a kid. It was the same Curt Menard.”

Warm, down-to-earth, and dedicated, were some of his traits. “He was always thinking of others and he had a super sense of humor,” Duffy said. During many late-night Assembly meetings, Menard would say the unexpected and break up the room with laughter.

Menard began his term as Borough Mayor on Oct. 17, 2006. A former Alaska senator and representative, Menard understood working collaboratively.

“I marveled at how he could manage very controversial issues and get people to talk and keep from getting partisan or entering the fray,” Duffy said. “He believed in the public process and stood by it.”

While the Mayor was in office, the Borough made strides in major economic and community projects. On the short list: a $240 million prison project set to break ground this spring; a $300 million rail extension project to Port MacKenzie that could give a $100 million boost to the natural gas pipeline; the Susitna ferry and ferry landings, a transportation link that is sure to change the nature of life along Upper Cook Inlet; the construction of four new schools, the expansion of an animal shelter—a project dear to his heart—and the funding of an innovative recycling center.

Borough Deputy Mayor Lynne Woods said it was an honor to serve with Menard. “The Mayor's relationship with all residents of our Borough has been filled with kindness, compassion, and common sense. I admire him, his keen political abilities and the practical way he carried out his work. We were able to discuss the merits of issues frankly and try to find solutions. I enjoyed our long phone conversations and how we supported each other's efforts. Our Borough has truly been honored to have a Mayor who served us with dignity and integrity. My sympathies go out to the Menard family. I will miss him dearly. I will miss his stories.”

In 2003, Menard was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. Twice he fought it hard. His son, Steve, said the cause of death was directly related to Menard's cancer. Always dedicated to the job of mayor, Menard came in to work last Wednesday, despite his staff pleading with him not to. "He was helping people to the end," Port Director Marc VanDongen said.

He had persevered before. In 1975 he lost his right arm after an accident with a powerline. With a hook arm, he retaught himself the profession of dentistry with the other arm. “He is a folk hero in the dental community,” said Manager Duffy. “First because of the missing arm, but second because of his infectious humor.” Menard always put people at ease with a joke about “giving them the hook.”

Earlier in his term as Mayor, he took medical leave on Jan. 02, 2007 to fight the cancer, but later regained his health and returned to work.

The Assembly meeting for this evening, Tues. March 3, 2009, has been cancelled in respect for the Mayor.

His term would have ended in October. He said he was going to run again.

“It's an immeasurable loss,” said Nancy Cameron, an employee who waged her own battle with cancer and grew close to the Mayor. “He looked at life in a huge way. He never saw roadblocks. He went around them, and did it with grace and humor.”

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