Lynn Basham died on Tuesday, April 21, surrounded by his family. Copper Valley residents will
remember Lynn from his many years calling the square and contra dances on the Friday nights
before the Kenny Lake Fair. He was a truly generous and merry man, waving an arm in the air and
encouraging the dancers and musicians from the middle of the dance floor. Those Kenny Lake
dances meant a lot to Lynn and his lifetime dance partner, Charley Basham.
He was born on October 14, 1943 in Madison, Wisconsin to Wendell and Modestene Basham. The
family lived in Colorado and then California, where he went to high school and college. He graduated
from San Jose State University in 1966 and entered Peace Corps training, where he met Charlotte
Schilling, whom he started calling Charley. They served together in the Philippines and were married
there in 1968. They then went to Japan and taught English at the Japanese American Conversation
Institute until 1973 when their son, David, was born. They returned to the U.S., earned MA degrees at
SJSU, and went to live and work at Navajo Community College in Tsaile, Arizona. In 1983 they
moved to Alaska for work at UAF. He taught a variety of classes, including ESL and a required course
in English that focused on scientific writing.
He was always well known in the communities for calling contra and square dances and playing both
Irish and old time music. He had the ability to gently encourage someone to dance for the first time or
take up an instrument. He made it fun. He also loved his volunteer jobs at Stone Soup Café, Calypso
Farm, and the Museum of the North.
Lynn was an active member of Chena Ridge Friends Meeting (Quaker).
He spent a week in the care of doctors and nurses at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. When he decided
not to spend the rest of his days on a breathing machine, around 40 people gathered in his hospital
room to send him off with musicians playing tunes, friends singing, saying goodbye, and generally
wrapping him in the love of community.
He died on Tuesday, April 21, embraced by his family.
We all will miss him, but we know that the light he shone in the world will live on. Call a dance and
play a tune for us on the other side, Lynn!
(Appended from the obituary published by Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on May 3, 2026.)
