Doyon president dies

by The Associated Press

Rosemarie Maher, the president and chief executive officer of Doyon Ltd., died July 13 in Fairbanks. She was 53. Maher had served on the board of the Interior’s Alaska Native corporation from 1979 until she was named president in January 2000. She replaced Morris Thompson who retired from Doyon in December 1999.

Maher had suffered a heart attack on July 4 and fell into a coma. About 400 people had gathered at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital late on July 13 when it became apparent that she would not recover.

Maher’s death is the second loss Doyon shareholders have had to face in a year and a half. Thompson had agreed to work as a special consultant for Doyon, but was killed, along with his wife and daughter, in the Jan. 31, 2000, Alaska Airlines crash of Flight 261 off the coast of California.