Memorial Service for Alan Panebaker Scheduled

American Whitewater Northeast Stewardship Director, Alan Panebaker, of Montpelier, Vt., passed away on Sept. 19, 2012, while paddling the Pemigewasset River (NH). Alan came to American Whitewater with a Juris Doctor (JD) and a Masters in Environmental Law and Policy from the Vermont Law School, as well as a B.A in Journalism from the University of Montana. He had experience working in both journalism and environmental law fields, and possessed a deep knowledge of the regional rivers and paddling community. 

 

Alan loved the outdoors, the roots of that deep affection stem from growing up in a National Park Service family. He lived in or near five different parks growing up, including Glacier National Park in Montana, Yosemite, Wrangell-St. Elias in Alaska and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He took up kayaking as a member of Boy Scout Troop 914 in Sylva, N.C., where he earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Alan was a highly skilled class V whitewater kayaker, and paddled rivers throughout North America.

 

Alan graduated from the University of Montana School of Journalism in 2005 and was a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings and Mail Tribune newspapers in Southern Oregon. He later wrote a weekly outdoors column for the Anchorage Press in Anchorage, Alaska, and he published freelance work for Canoe & Kayak magazine where he filed his most recent report last week on Gauley Fest.

 

A celebration of Alan’s life will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29, at Eagle Park on Lincoln Road in Bristol, VT. A reception will follow the gathering. There will also be another celebration of Alan’s life in Colorado that will be scheduled at a later date.