Family, friends pay tribute to Susan Butcher

By The Associated Press

Printed in The Seattle Times

9/4/06

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Grizzled dog mushers, politicians, Bill and Melinda Gates and one of Hollywood's biggest filmmakers were among the hundreds Saturday that remembered the woman some say helped define the modern Iditarod.

Susan Butcher won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race four times, but many in attendance chose to talk about how Butcher affected them off the trail, as a wife, mother, sister and friend.

Butcher's husband, David Monson, their daughters Tekla and Chisana, and about 700 others gathered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to honor Butcher. She died of leukemia Aug. 5 in Seattle. She was 51.

Filmmaker George Lucas, who said he considered Butcher an adopted sister, recounted a tale Butcher had told him years ago.

She was mushing down a frozen river when she broke through the ice and believed she was done for, Lucas said.

"Her dogs came to the rescue and pulled her out. She used to say that everything that happened after that was a gift."

Bill and Melinda Gates also flew to Fairbanks for the service. The couple met Butcher and Monson at a dog-mushing lesson and became fast friends and traveling companions, Melinda Gates said during her tribute. Gates said she often visited with Butcher after she arrived in Seattle in December for cancer treatment.

"She loved people, and she loved challenging people around her," Gates said. "There aren't many regrets in Susan's life."

Alaska politicians, including U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, former Gov. Tony Knowles and Sen. Ralph Seekins, also attended.

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company