AUTHOR’S NOTE: Floyd Nelson Keeler, eldest son in a family containing 12 children, was arguably the least well-understood of the bunch. He appears to have had an unusual marital arrangement and exhibited some behavior that was difficult for others to explain. He came to Alaska the first time at least as early as 1942 and likely departed for the last time in 1965.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Verona (Keeler) Wilson and her husband Don moved from rural Oregon to Soldotna in 1951, about the same time her brother Lawrence Keeler and his family were moving from Anchor Point to Stariski and another brother, Floyd Keeler, was leaving the Kenai Peninsula for a different kind of Alaska adventure. By the late 1960s, Verona and Don were well established in the business and social fabric of their community.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Lawrence and Lorna Keeler, along with their three children and Lawrence’s older brother Floyd, left Oregon on June 3, 1948, and began driving to what would become their new home on the southern Kenai Peninsula. By late June, Lawrence and Lorna were in Kenai, working in a cannery to earn enough money to afford transportation to the Anchor River.