Ethel Frost (1934 – 2006)
Ethel Frost was born and raised in Fort Yukon, the daughter of a minister. She met her future husband, Stephen Frost, when he came to Fort Yukon with his father to haul supplies for the Old Crow store. Ethel was eighteen and working in the hospital with her own room. In 1953, they were married in a double wedding encouraged by her family who thought Frost was a good hunter. He turned out to be a good gardener and farmer as well. When she moved to Old Crow the community had no toilets or electricity.1) In the early years, she was a nurse and midwife delivering nineteen of the community’s children. For forty years, she was also an airline agent for the airlines that flew into Old Crow.2) After TransNorth went bankrupt, Ethel wrote to Air North and Joe Sparling was there the next day. She told him that a lot of people would work for him if he bought the airline. He did and Ethel worked for him for thirteen years as a ticket agent. In 2005, Vuntut Gwitchin owned forty-nine percent of Air North.3)
Ethel Frost was fluent in the Gwichin language. She spent fall days fishing with her husband. She was a talented cake decorator and gardener and she sewed garments for her family. Ethel is remembered as having a passion for life and a sharp wit. She is survived by husband Stephen Frost, eleven children, and her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and godchildren.4)