By Diane Ujioka
Glenn Charles Ujioka, age 69, of Cordova, Alaska, died from stroke complications on March 31, 2024 at Cordova Community Medical Center in Cordova.
He was born in Seattle, Washington on Nov. 2, 1954 to Steve and Marie (MacDonald) Ujioka. From an early age he loved to be with his dad and was attracted to anything with a motor or engine. He seemed to be driven to know how or why they worked. He could not rest or turn his brain off until he completely understood.
He attended Mt. Eccles Elementary through 8th grade, then Copper Valley High School outside of Glennallen his 9th and 10th grade years, and returned to graduate in Cordova with Cordova High School’s Class of 1973. He graduated from Denver Automotive, Diesel and Welding School in 1976. This knowledge served him well throughout his varied careers.
He worked as a mechanic while the Alyeska Pipeline was being built. He was a member of the Operators 302 Union and worked many jobs around Alaska operating and maintaining heavy equipment, Cranes and Boom Trucks. He had the knack of making it look effortless.
He was also a lifelong and proud member of the International Longshore Workers Union (ILWU). He followed in his father’s footsteps as a longshoreman right up until his death in 2024.
He participated in many different fisheries on the Copper River and around Prince William Sound. He worked for Tim Kennedy, EJ Cheshier and probably more folks tendering, crabbing, longlining and eventually buying into gilnetting in the early ’80s. He named his first bowpicker F/V Kaila Marie after his first niece. He later had the F/V Tuesday built, which ties to his Wimpy nickname. At summer camp he was baptized in the lake as “Wimpy” because of his love of hamburgers. In the Popeye cartoon Wimpy’s famous line “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today” followed him for the rest of his days.
Glenn was appointed in 1997 by the governor to fill the Alaska Native seat on the Prince William Sound Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI). He served in that capacity for more than 20 years. The following is a snippet found in an OSRI report after his passing:
He had a deep love for Prince William Sound. He spoke passionately to the issues the OSRI board addressed, urging us never to lose our connection to PWS and OSRI’s origin when the mission expanded to the Arctic and Sub-Arctic waters. Glenn deeply understood the impacts of EVOS and the importance of oil spill response (not to mention prevention). His historic knowledge and insight will be deeply missed.
He loved BS-ing and shooting the breeze, making his rounds at the old COHO cafe on Main Street, on the docks, Anchor Parts — you name it, he was always ready to share or listen to a great story or solve an engine or wiring problem. He was an amazing mentor and friend to many in the Copper River Gilnet Fleet and beyond.
In the last couple of years of his life he had significant health challenges, we worked hard to give him the independence he wanted so badly. One of the highlights for him was a trip to Nichols BDS. I would ask what he needed and he would be kind of vague, but he would walk the aisles telling stories and listening to the latest happenings around town and come back out to the car recharged and a huge smile on his face. A sincere thank you to the staff at NBDS for your patience and understanding and the kindness extended to Glenn, he sure looked forward to seeing you all.
Glenn also served multiple terms on Native Village of Eyak’s Tribal Council. He was not satisfied just to rubber stamp something, he was determined to understand our rights to form as a Sovereign Tribal Government and to protect those rights. He served on the council when they exercised our right to manage our health care dollars and was instrumental in establishing our own local health care clinic.
Glenn is survived by his three siblings Steve, Diane and Jim Ujioka. Niece, Kaila Hawley (Tim) and her three children Nia Marie Cook, Joseph Peterson and Rowan Liberty. His nephew, Kellen Hawley and his wife Isabel Yasana Hawley and their three children Iliana, Kailani and Kelson Hawley. His youngest niece, Kelsey Hawley and Robert G Linville IV (Bobby) with their two children Luca Vandy and Robert G Linville V, aka Little Bobby. He was preceded in death by his parents Steve and Marie Ujioka and his Aunt Elsie and Uncle Paul. He was also preceded in death by his blue healer Ozzy. Even though his faithful Ozzy has been gone for quite a while, he would still tell stories about what a great dog he was and how much he missed him. Hopefully Ozzy was there to greet him, guarding the truck waiting for Glenn to get back! What a pair those two were.
Whether you knew him as Glenn, Wimp, Wimpy, Uncle Wimpy or Uncle Glenn, he had a huge impact on our family as well as many in Cordova, around Prince William Sound and Alaska. As he said at the end of every radio or phone call “out.”
We are planning a Celebration of Life at 2 p.m. on Aug. 31, 2024 at the Masonic in Cordova. All are welcome — and if able, bringing a dish to share would be very much appreciated — hope to see you there! If you have any stories or pictures you would like to share, they can be sent to [email protected]. We would also invite any musicians to share a song or two in his honor, please reach out to Diane if you would like to contribute in this way.
