Mary Lou Redmond

Feb 16, 1934 -

Mar 19, 2022

Longtime Alaskan Mary Lou Redmond passed away peacefully at her families home in Indian, Alaska. She grew up with eight brothers and sisters on her family's farm in Council Bluff, Iowa.

Mary was 18 in 1952, when she and her sister Joann came to Alaska selling magazines in Nome, Kotzebue and the surrounding villages for Union Company, a magazine subscription organization.

Mary decided to stay in Alaska after contacting her Uncle Jim Toman of Portage. Mary's uncle came to Alaska in 1902, and was a prominent business man in Anchorage in the early 1900s. Her uncle acquired a bar in Portage, Alaska, in 1948, that he named Diamond Jim's.

Mary loved working for her uncle as a waitress in Diamond Jim's, and she was also very proud of her second job as postmaster of Portage. She worked for her uncle until he passed away in 1956, from injuries sustained in an auto accident south of Girdwood. Her uncle willed his business to Mary, and she and her then husband, Harvey Redmond, continued to run the Diamond Jim's business as a bar and restaurant in Portage until the 1964 great Alaska earthquake caused the land in Portage to subside and the area became inundated by the Turnagain Arm tides.

The Diamond Jim's log building and the Diamond Jim's sign were relocated to Indian in the summer of 1964, where Mary continued to run the business as a bar and restaurant.

In her later years Mary continued to operate Diamond Jim's as a liquor store and gift shop up until 2019, when her health deteriorated to the point that she could no longer continue.

Mary loved Alaska and never wanted to leave. She loved and appreciated all her customers and all the many, many friends she had made in the 60-plus years she had been in business.

Mary is survived by her younger sister, Jenny Knotts of Council Bluff; eldest son, Jim Redmond of Indian; son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Debbie Redmond of Indian; son, Richard Redmond and granddaughter Irene of Nome; son, Robert Redmond of Girdwood; son, William Redmond of Clear; granddaughter, Charlotte Redmond and great-granddaughter Aria Rose Munroe of Victor, N.Y.; and grandsons, James Redmond of Indian and Ray Redmond of Anchorage. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Barbara Redmond of Wasilla; nephews, Dennis Redmond of Indian and Patrick Redmond of Washington; niece, Kim Redmond of Whitby Island, Wash.; and many other nieces, nephews and cousins.

Mary was preceded in death by her daughter, Irene; parents, William and Irene Toman; and brothers and sisters, John, Maryann, Gloria, William, Eva, Leo and Joann.

The family wishes to thank Liz, Beth and Laura and the staff at the Providence Horizon House and hospice care for all of their compassion and wonderful support. You are all amazing. Thank you so much.

It was Mary's final wish to be cremated. She did not want a funeral, but a celebration of her life planned for later in May or June, or ... "as soon as the flowers come up" according to Mary.