Obituary for K Victor Koski
K Victor Koski
February 25, 1941-December 4, 2021
K V. Koski was born in Coos Bay, Oregon on February 25, 1941, to Carl V. and May Koski. He grew up roaming the marshes and sloughs of the Coos River, learning the love of hunting and fishing from his father. K’s mother loved to picnic and often drove the family down to Charleston to enjoy her favorite beaches and parks. K’s little brother Terry was born while K was a teenager, and K took Terry on many adventures with his high school and later college buddies. K graduated from Marshfield High in 1958 and went on to get both an undergraduate and master’s degree in fisheries at Oregon State University. While at college, K met Carol Dickinson and they were married on July 5, 1964, shortly after graduation. The couple stayed in Corvallis starting their careers, K working for the Oregon Fish Commission conducting fisheries habitat research. K was accepted to the University of Washington’s Fisheries Research Unit working at the Big Beef Creek Research Station where he studied the effects of logging on salmon habitat and the importance of stream buffer zones for his PhD. The couple moved to Seabeck, WA in 1966 where their daughter Kari Koski was born in 1970. Here K and Carol would meet several colleagues and their families who would become lifelong family friends.
K spent a summer working as a stream warden at Pack Creek, on Admiralty Island in Southeast Alaska. This must have been where he was bitten by the Alaskan bug (likely swarms of blackflies) because later when he had the chance to work at the Fisheries Research Station in Hollis, on Prince of Whales Island, he took it. This led K to be hired by the U.S. Forest Service in Juneau, and the family moved there in 1973. K’s love of coastal habitats was well met in the vast mountains and waterways of the Tongass National Rainforest where he would spend most of his life. K joined the National Marine Fisheries Service as a fisheries scientist at the Auke Bay Labs in 1975. K’s work took him to many wilderness research stations where his family would visit and often spend summer vacations. K loved to hike, camp, hunt and fish and he took his family on exciting adventures by small boat, float plane, river raft and ferry to get to some of the most beautiful and remote places in southeast Alaska. K’s wife Carol got sick just as they began building a house out the road at Point Louisa. Carol died from cancer shortly after moving into their ‘not quite finished’ waterfront home overlooking Lynn Canal and the Chilkat Mountain Range.
K met Lynda Gianopolis in San Diego, California and they married there in May of 1984. K and Lynda returned to Alaska where she worked as a Registered Nurse and with substance cessation programs for Alaska natives throughout the state. Their son, Kole was born in Juneau in 1988 and they moved to Douglas Island where they renovated a beautiful home overlooking Gastineau Channel on the Mendenhall Wetlands. K and Kole loved to fish and hunt ducks together with the dogs right in front of the house. Family and friends helped build a cabin out at Funter Bay, on Admiralty Island, where they gathered and enjoyed many good times. K fell in love with the Sea of Cortez in Baja, Mexico and eventually they got a palapa in Los Barriles where friends joined the family for exciting offshore fishing, snorkeling, and plenty of fish tacos and margaritas.
K was at the Auke Bay Labs for 30 years, retiring in 2005. A high point of his career was testifying before congress in support of stream buffers. His research on the effects of logging led to major revisions to the 1990 Alaska Forest Resources and Practices Act and passage of the Tongass Timber Reform Act, which mandated buffer zones on all Alaska streams. K was proud of the Duck Creek Restoration Project which he worked on for over 10 years, partnering with several agencies and community organizations and which won three national awards, including K receiving a Department of Commerce Silver Medal Leadership Award for exceptional performance restoring vital coastal habitats. After 2005, K continued working with The Nature Conservancy on the Pathways to Resilience Program, the Conservation Action Plan for Estuarine Ecosystems and the Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership. One of the many honors K had while working with the Conservancy was participating on a coastal habitat project in the newly designated Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia. K sat on numerous scientific and advisory boards and was an American Fisheries Society member and on the International Fisheries Commission. K greatly enjoyed the camaraderie of working and playing with his research teams and their families and everyone enjoyed many potlucks, picnics and parties at the Koski’s homes-somebody had to help them eat all of the ducks, venison and fish piling up in the freezer!
K loved fishing as much as actually catching a fish- always pleading to make ‘just one more pass’ and urging others to ‘keep the tip up’ while reeling in. There are so many photos in which K is proudly holding a beautiful fish- a salmon caught at Funter Bay, a trout caught on a fly and released back into a favorite river, or a flashy roosterfish caught in Baja. K fished in nearly every Golden North Salmon Derby since 1973, something that both Kari and Kole loved doing with him. K always had dogs- as hunting companions and as pets- springer spaniels, Labradors, Chesapeakes, golden retrievers, terriers and once a wolf-Samoyed hybrid named Suzy. He was an avid collector of duck decoys-canvas backs were always a favorite, and he covered the walls with annual Alaska and Washington duck stamp prints, Alaskan artists he loved like Skip Wallen bear prints, and numerous photos he took of plants and animals throughout his travels. Being a lifelong salmon biologist, K collected A LOT of salmon & fish themed things-fishing gear of every kind, fish and fishing art, many cookbooks, a salmon skin leather briefcase, and a fully loaded fish wardrobe for every occasion. Moving down south with Lynda in 2013 took several shipping containers towed by Foss Alaska barge to Washington state.
After finally retiring and moving to Whidbey Island, Washington, K and Lynda looked forward to exploring the Skagit Valley and to travelling. In 2014 K was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Degenerative dementia and eventually moved into assisted living in 2017 and then to a memory care center in 2020. The past few years have been difficult for everyone, especially through the pandemic. Unfortunately a Covid outbreak occurred at the care center and K was one of the unlucky residents who caught the virus. K died on December 4, 2021 of Covid-19 in Oak Harbor at the Home Place Memory Center on Whidbey Island, WA. K left behind his wife Lynda (Oak Harbor), his daughter Kari and partner Douglas (Friday Harbor), his son Kole and his wife Katie (Juneau) and his brother Terry and his wife Donna and their family (Coos Bay).
K was most happy being outside, fishing or hunting with friends and family, sharing a really good sandwich and a cold drink and finishing it off with a piece of pie and a good story. K was truly loved by all and will be greatly missed. The family is planning a memorial service in Juneau in the spring of 2022. Friends and family are encouraged to share memories and condolences at www.whidbeymemorial.com Memorial details will be posted there.
K worked his whole life to protect what he loved- healthy habitat for healthy fish. Donations in his honor that help further that future can be made to:
The Nature Conservancy (region of your choice) https://www.nature.org
Salmon State- defending salmon habitat https://salmonstate.org/
Salmon Beyond Borders www.salmonbeyondborders.org/
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration https://www.theaftd.org/
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center https://www.fredhutch.org
Memorial service for K Koski will be held on May 21, 2022 at the Auke Rec Picnic Shelter in Juneau, Alaska from 3-6pm. All are welcome. Bring pictures, stories and memories to share.
February 25, 1941-December 4, 2021
K V. Koski was born in Coos Bay, Oregon on February 25, 1941, to Carl V. and May Koski. He grew up roaming the marshes and sloughs of the Coos River, learning the love of hunting and fishing from his father. K’s mother loved to picnic and often drove the family down to Charleston to enjoy her favorite beaches and parks. K’s little brother Terry was born while K was a teenager, and K took Terry on many adventures with his high school and later college buddies. K graduated from Marshfield High in 1958 and went on to get both an undergraduate and master’s degree in fisheries at Oregon State University. While at college, K met Carol Dickinson and they were married on July 5, 1964, shortly after graduation. The couple stayed in Corvallis starting their careers, K working for the Oregon Fish Commission conducting fisheries habitat research. K was accepted to the University of Washington’s Fisheries Research Unit working at the Big Beef Creek Research Station where he studied the effects of logging on salmon habitat and the importance of stream buffer zones for his PhD. The couple moved to Seabeck, WA in 1966 where their daughter Kari Koski was born in 1970. Here K and Carol would meet several colleagues and their families who would become lifelong family friends.
K spent a summer working as a stream warden at Pack Creek, on Admiralty Island in Southeast Alaska. This must have been where he was bitten by the Alaskan bug (likely swarms of blackflies) because later when he had the chance to work at the Fisheries Research Station in Hollis, on Prince of Whales Island, he took it. This led K to be hired by the U.S. Forest Service in Juneau, and the family moved there in 1973. K’s love of coastal habitats was well met in the vast mountains and waterways of the Tongass National Rainforest where he would spend most of his life. K joined the National Marine Fisheries Service as a fisheries scientist at the Auke Bay Labs in 1975. K’s work took him to many wilderness research stations where his family would visit and often spend summer vacations. K loved to hike, camp, hunt and fish and he took his family on exciting adventures by small boat, float plane, river raft and ferry to get to some of the most beautiful and remote places in southeast Alaska. K’s wife Carol got sick just as they began building a house out the road at Point Louisa. Carol died from cancer shortly after moving into their ‘not quite finished’ waterfront home overlooking Lynn Canal and the Chilkat Mountain Range.
K met Lynda Gianopolis in San Diego, California and they married there in May of 1984. K and Lynda returned to Alaska where she worked as a Registered Nurse and with substance cessation programs for Alaska natives throughout the state. Their son, Kole was born in Juneau in 1988 and they moved to Douglas Island where they renovated a beautiful home overlooking Gastineau Channel on the Mendenhall Wetlands. K and Kole loved to fish and hunt ducks together with the dogs right in front of the house. Family and friends helped build a cabin out at Funter Bay, on Admiralty Island, where they gathered and enjoyed many good times. K fell in love with the Sea of Cortez in Baja, Mexico and eventually they got a palapa in Los Barriles where friends joined the family for exciting offshore fishing, snorkeling, and plenty of fish tacos and margaritas.
K was at the Auke Bay Labs for 30 years, retiring in 2005. A high point of his career was testifying before congress in support of stream buffers. His research on the effects of logging led to major revisions to the 1990 Alaska Forest Resources and Practices Act and passage of the Tongass Timber Reform Act, which mandated buffer zones on all Alaska streams. K was proud of the Duck Creek Restoration Project which he worked on for over 10 years, partnering with several agencies and community organizations and which won three national awards, including K receiving a Department of Commerce Silver Medal Leadership Award for exceptional performance restoring vital coastal habitats. After 2005, K continued working with The Nature Conservancy on the Pathways to Resilience Program, the Conservation Action Plan for Estuarine Ecosystems and the Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership. One of the many honors K had while working with the Conservancy was participating on a coastal habitat project in the newly designated Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia. K sat on numerous scientific and advisory boards and was an American Fisheries Society member and on the International Fisheries Commission. K greatly enjoyed the camaraderie of working and playing with his research teams and their families and everyone enjoyed many potlucks, picnics and parties at the Koski’s homes-somebody had to help them eat all of the ducks, venison and fish piling up in the freezer!
K loved fishing as much as actually catching a fish- always pleading to make ‘just one more pass’ and urging others to ‘keep the tip up’ while reeling in. There are so many photos in which K is proudly holding a beautiful fish- a salmon caught at Funter Bay, a trout caught on a fly and released back into a favorite river, or a flashy roosterfish caught in Baja. K fished in nearly every Golden North Salmon Derby since 1973, something that both Kari and Kole loved doing with him. K always had dogs- as hunting companions and as pets- springer spaniels, Labradors, Chesapeakes, golden retrievers, terriers and once a wolf-Samoyed hybrid named Suzy. He was an avid collector of duck decoys-canvas backs were always a favorite, and he covered the walls with annual Alaska and Washington duck stamp prints, Alaskan artists he loved like Skip Wallen bear prints, and numerous photos he took of plants and animals throughout his travels. Being a lifelong salmon biologist, K collected A LOT of salmon & fish themed things-fishing gear of every kind, fish and fishing art, many cookbooks, a salmon skin leather briefcase, and a fully loaded fish wardrobe for every occasion. Moving down south with Lynda in 2013 took several shipping containers towed by Foss Alaska barge to Washington state.
After finally retiring and moving to Whidbey Island, Washington, K and Lynda looked forward to exploring the Skagit Valley and to travelling. In 2014 K was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Degenerative dementia and eventually moved into assisted living in 2017 and then to a memory care center in 2020. The past few years have been difficult for everyone, especially through the pandemic. Unfortunately a Covid outbreak occurred at the care center and K was one of the unlucky residents who caught the virus. K died on December 4, 2021 of Covid-19 in Oak Harbor at the Home Place Memory Center on Whidbey Island, WA. K left behind his wife Lynda (Oak Harbor), his daughter Kari and partner Douglas (Friday Harbor), his son Kole and his wife Katie (Juneau) and his brother Terry and his wife Donna and their family (Coos Bay).
K was most happy being outside, fishing or hunting with friends and family, sharing a really good sandwich and a cold drink and finishing it off with a piece of pie and a good story. K was truly loved by all and will be greatly missed. The family is planning a memorial service in Juneau in the spring of 2022. Friends and family are encouraged to share memories and condolences at www.whidbeymemorial.com Memorial details will be posted there.
K worked his whole life to protect what he loved- healthy habitat for healthy fish. Donations in his honor that help further that future can be made to:
The Nature Conservancy (region of your choice) https://www.nature.org
Salmon State- defending salmon habitat https://salmonstate.org/
Salmon Beyond Borders www.salmonbeyondborders.org/
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration https://www.theaftd.org/
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center https://www.fredhutch.org
Memorial service for K Koski will be held on May 21, 2022 at the Auke Rec Picnic Shelter in Juneau, Alaska from 3-6pm. All are welcome. Bring pictures, stories and memories to share.