Rebecca (Burtness) Haggland 1947-2008
Categories: Janesville Gazette Obituary
"The Gazette Xtra", Janesville, Wisconsin, Monday, July 21, 2008.
After a valiant five-year battle with cancer, Becky went to be with her Lord on May 14, 2008. Becky was born on Nov. 10, 1947, to Vincent and Jean (McWilliam) Burtness in Beloit, WI. She was raised on her parents' dairy farm in Orfordville. She attended and graduated from Fisher School, a one-room, one-teacher, eight-grade country school. She then attended Parkview High School, graduating in 1965. She worked as a Nurse’s Aide at the old Beloit Hospital, where she was born, until 1967. Becky answered a magazine ad for the Weaver Airline School in Kansas City and attended classes there for a month. She started working for Northwest Airlines on March 4, 1968, in the Milwaukee Reservation Center. When MKE reservations closed, she moved to the Chicago reservation office. After a short road trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks in the summer of 1973, she decided to bid a temporary summer job in the ANC Reservations office and became part of the increased staff during the construction of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline working in reservations, the ticket counter, and freight offices. When Pan American Airlines discontinued service to Fairbanks, Northwest opened a station and she moved to the FAI ticket counter/secretary position. A group of airlines (SATO) opened a ticket office on the Ft. Wainwright Army Base, and she worked there from 1983 to 1991. When SATO no longer offered airline employees positions, she went back to NWA and after 17 years in Alaska, she transferred to the Seattle reservation center, until her retirement, due to illness, on Feb. 15, 2008. Becky met her husband, Paul Haggland, Fairbanks International Airport Manager, while working at the NWA ticket counter. They were married on Jan. 16, 1983. They took their daughters, son-in-law, grandson and CCI Puppy in Training (Dacey) to Fairbanks in July 2007 to celebrate their 25th anniversary by renewing their wedding vows at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, where they were married.
She is survived by her husband, Paul; daughters, Catherine (Christopher) Zaragoza and Amanda; grandson, Brennan; brothers: Edwin (Pat), Burtness, Loren Burtness of Orfordville, and Raymond Burtness of Beloit; a niece, Deanna (Scott) Vanderhei of Milton; and two nephews, Jason (Sarah) and Eric Burtness of Orfordville. She was preceded in death by her parents, Vincent and Jean Burtness; and her brother, Bruce.
A memorial service will be held at Orfordville Lutheran Church at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 26, 2008. The family is being assisted by Newcomer-Silverthorn Funeral Home, Orfordville.