STUART ANDREW ANDY PERALA Jan 26, 1954-Nov 18, 2022 A 30-year resident of Kamuela, Hawaii, and before that, a 15-year resident of Anchorage, Alaska, Andy passed away on November 18, 2022, at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California, due to complications from a major heart surgery. He was 68 years old. Andy was born in Negaunee, Michigan, on January 26, 1954. His parents were Stuart Robert Perala and Mary Elizabeth Junttila Perala. Andy graduated from Hawaii Preparatory Academy in Kamuela, Hawaii in 1972. He went on to Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. He took time away to work as a logger in Southeast Alaska and a laborer/foreman on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the Brooks Range. Returning to Swarthmore, he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature in 1979. Andy went on to work as a journalist for the Anchorage Daily News and contributed to the newspaper’s 1989 Pulitzer Prize winning series for Public Service, called “People in Peril.” In 1992, Andy joined the W.M. Keck Observatory in Kamuela, Hawaii. Keck had two 10-meter telescopes exploring the universe, atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea Mountain. He was the Public Information Officer, using his considerable writing skills to keep the public informed of Keck’s advances in science. Andy is survived by his wife of 43 years, Eileen Woods Perala of Kamuela, Hawaii; daughter Maija Perala of Vancouver, Washington; son Sean Perala of Salem, Oregon; sister Charlotte Cannon of Fairbanks, Alaska; brother-in-law Michael Woods of Anchorage, Alaska, sister-in-law Kathleen Woods (Bill) Masalski of Amherst, Massachusetts; brother-in-law Mark (Mary Beth) Woods of Carefree, Arizona; all of their families; and other relatives around the world. Condolences/communications can be sent to Eileen Perala, P.O. Box 6626, Kamuela, HI 96743, or to eperala@aol.com. A Celebration of Andy’s Life is planned for Saturday, July 29, 2023 at 2:00pm, at Davies Chapel on the Hawaii Preparatory Academy Campus in Waimea. The address is: 65-1692 Kohala Mountain Road, Kamuela, HI, 96743. You may enter campus through the guard gate on the north side.
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