{"id":6762,"date":"2016-10-04T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/ex-alaska-official-son-of-legendary-broadcaster-dies-at-92\/"},"modified":"2016-10-04T08:00:51","modified_gmt":"2016-10-04T15:00:51","slug":"ex-alaska-official-son-of-legendary-broadcaster-dies-at-92","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/ex-alaska-official-son-of-legendary-broadcaster-dies-at-92\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Alaska official, son of legendary broadcaster, dies at 92"},"content":{"rendered":"
JUNEAU<\/strong> \u2014 Lowell Thomas Jr., a former Alaska lieutenant governor, author, adventurer, glacier pilot and son of the legendary broadcaster, has died.<\/p>\n His daughter, Anne Donaghy, confirmed his death Monday to The Associated Press. She says her father died Saturday at his home in Anchorage, days shy of his 93rd birthday.<\/p>\n He was born in London on Oct. 6, 1923, to Lowell Jackson Thomas and Frances Ryan Thomas. His early childhood was spent in New York City, where his father had a nightly radio broadcast.<\/p>\n He was a flight instructor during World War II, and flying and skiing became lifelong passions. He and his wife flew across the world and chronicled their work in articles and a book.<\/p>\n They visited Alaska in 1958, and fell in love with it, moving there two years later.<\/p>\n Thomas was a state legislator and later lieutenant governor, a post he held from 1974 to 1978.<\/p>\n The family plans a memorial later in Anchorage.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Read more news:<\/strong><\/p>\n Report: Leave contaminated Hawk Inlet seafloor alone<\/a><\/p>\n