Four-time Iditarod winner remembered

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Grizzled dog mushers, politicians, a computer mogul and a Hollywood filmmaker were among the crowd of hundreds that gathered in the heart of Alaska on Saturday to remember 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 had affected them off the trail as a wife, mother, sister and friend.

“I got 21 years with the most special person who I can imagine spending time with,” said Butcher’s husband, David Monson. “I got 50 years out of those 21.”

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

Filmmaker George Lucas, who said he considered Butcher an adopted sister, quietly took the stage and 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 of Microsoft Corp. also flew to Fairbanks for the service.

The couple had 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 recalled that Butcher would attempt to walk to and from her chemotherapy sessions, occasionally phoning for a ride from the numerous friends she had made in Seattle.

“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 state Sen. Ralph Seekins, also attended.

But most of the mourners were fans, friends and other dog mushers, including four-time Iditarod winner Martin Buser and 1978 champion Dick Mackey.

Iditarod co-founder Joe Redington Sr. said during a tribute his father had told him: “Susan Butcher will win the Iditarod.”

Butcher did more than just win – she dominated the 1,100-mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome in the late 1980s. Her victories came in 1986-88 and ‘90, and she finished in the top four through 1993.

The 1984 Iditarod champion, Dean Osmar, reflected on the 1982 Iditarod when he, Butcher and about five other mushers were waiting out a storm in Shaktoolik, 125 miles east of the finish line in Nome.

“We camped out, cooked bacon and told lies over the campfire,” Osmar said.

Karin Franzen remembered hot-tubbing at Butcher’s home when Monson came outside carrying shower caps.

“We’ve got pictures sitting in the hot tub with those stupid shower caps,” said Franzen, who sold Butcher dog harnesses before the two became friends. “It was always fun to be there.”