Alice D. Hackett, age 92, our Mom, our Auntie, our Granny, passed away on the afternoon of January 28, 2019, in her home as she wished, surrounded by loving family and under the branches of the towering backyard redwood she loved seeing through her skylight.

Alice was born on December 4, 1926 in Michigan City, Indiana to Marty Dahlquist and the former Daisy Dunn. Upon her mother’s death and coinciding with the onset of World War II, she went to live with extended family in Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada, where she fondly recalled graduating from an all-girls high school with a class of twelve.

Returning to Indiana, she attended and graduated from Purdue University, where she met and married Herbert Hackett.  After relocating to Berkeley, California, they adopted their only child, Geoffrey, in 1958. The family lived in Auburn, California, before moving to Arcata in 1968 when Herb was offered a teaching position in the Humboldt State University Psychology Department.

Alice enjoyed being a homemaker during those years, and occasionally worked part-time as a Registered Dietician until Herb’s unexpected death in 1970.  She then began the career that defined her to a generation of young adults as the head of Food Services for Lumberjack Enterprises at HSU, where the Jolly Giant Complex Cafeteria hoisted a large sign at its entrance proclaiming “YOU CAN GET ANYTHING YOU WANT AT ALICE’S RESTAURANT.” 

Although Alice enjoyed working, she loved to travel even more. She was in the first tourist group to enter mainland China, and was proud of having visited all seven continents, whether with a group tour such as Elderhostel, her beloved stepmother Ruth Dahlquist, good friend Mildred Moore, or her gentleman friend the late Ken Boe.

Alice did not slow down in retirement, volunteering at the Arcata Food Bank, the Humboldt County Library in Eureka, Vector Rehabilitation in Eureka, and the Hospice Shop in Arcata. She was a member of the Saint Alban’s Church Vestry for many years. She played cards and lunched with ladies of the church and neighborhood. Never one to be idle, she always had her knitting by her side, and produced hundreds of warm, colorful beanies, known to many as “Granny Hats,” which she gave away to organizations and agencies to share with those in need.  

She was preceded in death by parents, Daisy and Marty; stepmother, Ruth; husband, Herb; brother, Charlie; her second daughter-in-law, Kristi Palmer Hackett; and son, Geoffrey.

She is survived by niece, Joanne Dahlquist, who moved in with her in 2012, and they became the Golden Girls of Sunny Brae. She was Granny to grandsons Daniel Hackett; Michael Hackett, his daughter, Aurora Lucille Hackett, and her mother, Brittany LoBue; James Parmenter and wife Katy; and granddaughters Jennifer Nolen and husband Brian; and Heather Trudell. She will be deeply missed by daughters-in-law Diane Burson-Hackett, and Barbara Boerger, as well as the dear friends she made at St. Alban’s.

The family would like to thank Reverend Sara Potter, Parish Nurse Emily Arents, and the capable and compassionate staff of Hospice of Humboldt. You made it possible for Alice to die as she wished, at peace and with dignity.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Alice Hackett’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.