Sitka business leader and philanthropist Lloyd Hames has died.
According to family, Hames passed away quietly Friday night at the Sitka Pioneers Home, where he had lived since 2011. He was 85 years old.
Hames was born in Sprague, Washington, in 1927, and served in Japan during World War II. He met and married Sitkan Barbara Rands in 1950, and came to work for his in-laws in their new grocery business, C.R. Rands Company.
Hames eventually bought out his wife’s parents on their retirement in 1969, and formed the Hames Corporation. In 1975, Hames formed Port West, Inc., and opened a grocery store and shopping mall in Ketchikan.
At the peak of their operations, Hames’ businesses were earning around $40-million a year.
In addition to his business activities, Hames served on the Sitka Community Hospital board, including two years as president, during the construction of Sitka Community Hospital. He is a past president and director of both the Sitka Rotary Club and Sitka Chamber of Commerce. He served 18 years on the board of trustees of Sheldon Jackson College. Hames and his wife Barbara contributed the major funding for the college’s athletic center, which still bears their name.
Lloyd Hames is survived by his wife, three grown children, and numerous grandchildren. Services Hames are pending this Saturday in Sitka.
Raven News will have a longer retrospective on Hames’ life later this week.
