Helen Troy Monsen (1899-1989)

Helen Marian Troy was born in 1899 in Skagway, Alaska. She was the oldest daughter of John Weir Troy and Minerva Lewis Troy, who both came from pioneer Washington families. John Troy came to Alaska in 1897 as a correspondent for a Seattle paper and stayed in Skagway until poor health caused him to return to Washington. John returned with Minerva to Skagway in 1898 and managed a pack train taking supplies over the White Pass. Helen’s sister Dorothy Minerva was born in 1901, although it is unclear if she was born in Skagway or in Washington. The Troy family moved back to Seattle, Washington in 1907. In Seattle, John helped organize the Alaska Club and its successor the Arctic Club and founded the Alaska-Yukon Magazine that he published for a year. John and Minerva separated in 1909 and divorced in 1911. John moved back to Alaska in 1913 with Helen and Dorothy to be editor of the Daily Alaska Empire in Juneau. He purchased the newspaper in 1914. While visiting Seattle in 1916, John Troy married Mrs. Ethel Crocker Forgy, formerly superintendent of schools in Seward and also a licensed embalmer. The couple continued to live in Juneau, where in addition to being the manager and editor of the Daily Alaska Empire, John Troy was also Collector of Customs for the District of Alaska from 1919 until 1922.

John and Ethel, both Democrats, were active in politics in the state and in the nation. Both were members of the Democratic National Committee and attended the Democratic National Convention in New York in 1924 as well as other conventions during the 1920s. Because of health problems, Ethel left Alaska in 1920 and lived in Southern California until her death in July 1974. After Helen graduated from Juneau High School in 1916, she attended the University of Washington where she studied journalism. She met Robert William Bender, also a journalism student, while at the University of Washington. On January 20, 1922 the couple upset family members’ plans for a wedding when they eloped in Seattle. Bob Bender worked for Columbia Theaters, Universal Theaters, and Fox Theaters in the northwest and in New York and Ohio. In 1932, Bob and Helen moved back to Juneau to work with John and the Daily Alaska Empire. After Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed John Troy Territorial Governor of Alaska in 1933, Bob became the manager and editor of the paper, and Helen acted as the hostess at the Governor’s Mansion. In 1937, Bob went south to visit his father, William Lewis Bender, in Tacoma, and to regain his health. On December 26, 1937, Bob Bender passed away in Phoenix.

After Bob’s death in 1937, Helen became the manager and editor of the Daily Alaska Empire. As editor, Helen was vocal in her support of home rule for Alaskans and disagreed with some who sought statehood. Governor Troy resigned as governor of Alaska in 1939 due to health reasons. Helen married Alf Nikolai Monsen, an experienced Alaskan pilot, on October 11,1941 in her father’s hospital room in Juneau, Alaska. John Weir Troy passed away in Juneau on May 2, 1942 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery. Alf Monsen continued to live in Juneau and fly for Pan American Airlines while Helen continued as the manager and editor of the Daily Alaska Empire. October 26, 1947 while flying from Seattle to Juneau, Alf Monsen’s plane crashed into Tamgas Mountain on Annette Island in Southeast Alaska, leaving no survivors. Alf was buried next to John Troy in Evergreen Cemetery.

Helen continued as the manager and editor of the Daily Alaska Empire until 1955, when the company was sold to William Prescott Allen. Helen remained in Juneau helping at the Empire and working at the attorney general’s office until 1966 when she moved to Palm Desert, California. Helen passed away July 4, 1989 in California. She was cremated in California and her remains were buried next to her husband and father in Evergreen Cemetery in Juneau.