| Notes |
- Neil lived in Minneapolis in 1948 and was a student at the University of Minnesota School of Forestry. He was enrolled in the Wildlife Management Course.
Anchorage Daily News, Alaska, 4 Nov 1990
Neil R. Bassett
Longtime Anchorage resident Neil R. Bassett, 62, a retired lands management
officer, died Oct. 31 at Providence Hospital.
A visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday at Evergreen Memorial
Chapel, Eighth Avenue and E Street. A funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday
at the First Baptist Church with the Rev. Michael McKay officiating.
Pallbearers will be Bo Hampson, George Schmidt, Jim Rhodes, Frank Wince, Hank
Dunbar and Hazen Ricker. Following the funeral, burial with full milita
honors will be held at Fort Richardson National Cemetery.
Mr. Bassett was born May 16, 1928, in Minneapolis. He graduated from the
University of Minnesota in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in wildlife
management. He received his master's degree in wildlife management from the
Utah State Agricultural College at Logan in 1951.
He served in the U.S. Air Force medical section from 1951 to 1955. He moved to
Anchorage in 1967 to work on the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act with the
Bureau of Land Management until his retirement in 1985. He married Dorothy
Bill in Anchorage in 1974.
Mr. Bassett was initiated into the Masonry at Covina Lodge No. 334 in Covina,
Calif., in June 1960. He became a Master Mason in November 1960. He was also a
member of Lassen Lodge No. 149, in Susanville, Calif., Kenai Lodge No. 11, and
Glacier Lodge No. 10 in Anchorage. Mr. Bassett was a post Master of Glacial
Lodge, having served as Master in 1974.
Alaska Archives, HMC-0377 JS (11/1995)
Neil Risser Bassett (1928-1990)
Papers; 1940-1991
Neil Risser Bassett was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1928. He received a
B.S. in wildlife management from the University of Minnesota in 1949. He also
received M.S. Degrees in wildlife management from Utah State University (1951)
and zoology (wildlife) from the University of California, Berkeley (1956).
Bassett served in the U.S. Air Force medical section (1951-1955), and in the
National park Service as a park ranger and park naturalist for three years. He
joined the Bureau of Land Management in 1959, serving as a realty specialist
in Los Angeles Land Office (1959-1960), and as a lands and mineral specialist
in the Susanville (California) District Office (1960-1967). Bassett came to
Anchorage, Alaska, in 1967. He worked in the Alaska Office of the U.S.
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), first as Chief of
the Lands Branch (1967-1970) and later as Chief of the Branch of Lands and
Minerals (1972-1985) in the Resources Division. One of his major
responsibilities was as a coordinator for the Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Act, a role that involved him in all phases of its implementation. Bassett
retired from the Bureau of Land Management in 1985. Bassett married Dorothy
Bills in Anchorage in 1974. Bassett was active in the Masons from his
induction in Covina, California in 1960 to his death in Anchorage in 1990.
The collection primarily consists of papers which Neil Bassett accumulated
during his career with the BLM. The collection is divided into five parts:
Personal Papers; BLM Management and Reference Records; BLM Subject File
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) Files; and Publications. The
Personal Papers consist of biographical materials including obituaries,
certificates, and newspaper clippings; twenty-four photographs; materials from
courses, workshops, conferences, and seminars which Bassett attended; general
information and orientation materials on the BLM; miscellaneous materia
concerning the Susanville District Office in California; and other materials
from the Riverside District and Land Office in California. The BLM Management
and Reference Records consist of various management, organizational, and
personnel management files, Bassett's reading file, and reference materials.
The BLM Subject Files consist of files concerning a variety of land management
issues and functions, the most prominent of which include easements, la
exchanges, minerals, oil and gas leasing, mining, native allotments,
navigability, rights-of-way, selections of land, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline
System. The ANCSA Files include reference materials, activity reports, meeting
minutes, newsletters, chronological ANCSA files, annual reports, issue papers,
a reading file, reviews, reports, studies, and evaluations. The Publications
include those of the BLM, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and other
federal and state entities, along with a few non-governmental publications and
aeronautical maps of Alaska.
The collection was presented to the Archives by Dorothy M. Bassett in 1991. A
deed of gift was signed in 1991.
He also belonged to the York Rite bodies on Masonry and the Alaska Shri
Temple. He was a past Patron of the Order of the Eastern Star and served in
both the Hesperian Chapter 112, in Susanville, and Denali Chapter 16 in
Anchorage. Mr. Bassett was also elected as second Grand Secretary to the Most
Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Alaska in February 1983,
and served in that position until his death.
Mr. Bassett was preceded in death by his father, Guerdon, and his mother
Josephine, both of Minnesota. Besides his wife, Dorothy of Anchorage, M
Bassett is survived by his son, Frank of Wasilla; his stepdaughters, Emaline
French of Anchorage; Saundra Duffy of Hawaii, Janet Brown of Valdez and Gail
Bills of Juneau; 12 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Memorials may be sent to the Alaska Masonic Museum and Library Fund, Box
190772, Anchorage 99519.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1928 - 1990 (62 years)