Alaska flags were lowered in honor of Cheryll Heinze, an APU graduate who represented Anchorage in the state House.
Heinze died July 10 when the small plane she was traveling in crashed while attempting to land at Beluga Lake in Homer. She was 65. Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell ordered state flags lowered on July 13.
APU President Don Bantz, who counted Heinze among personal acquaintances, recalled her appreciation for Alaska Pacific University.
In an email to a board member, Heinze once noted that she needed just two credits from APU to complete a college degree started 40 years earlier. “I stayed two years. I loved it that much,” Heinze wrote.
“And we, in turn, loved Cheryll,” Bantz said.
Heinze, a human resources and public affairs director for Matanuska Electric Association, earned a BA in Liberal Studies from APU in 2000.
She represented Anchorage as a Republican in the state House of Representatives from 2003-2004.
