Linda Tannehill retires after 28 years with Extension on Kenai Peninsula

Oct. 1, 2021

Alaska was love at first sight for Linda Tannehill, 4-H and �鶹��ý, Health and Family Development agent in Soldotna. She came up in the summer of 1992 on vacation and returned for a second look the following February because she wanted to see how the winter compared with those back home in Kansas.

It just so happened that it was 40 above on the Kenai Peninsula and minus 4 in Kansas. During that visit, she applied for a job with the �鶹��ý Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and went on a retreat with the local Extension staff. Her first impression?

“Those women were so fun,” she said. “Of course, there’s all this beauty, but what good is beauty if the people aren't kind and fun, and my first impression of Alaska were the Extension homemakers, as they were called then. They were just a fun bunch.”

Tannehill started working at the Cooperative Extension office that fall and now, 28 years later, has decided to retire. It wasn't an easy decision, she said, noting that she’s planning to stay on the Kenai Peninsula and staying involved with some of the projects she’s worked with over the years.

“It comes down to the people,” she said. “That’s what I’ll miss the most.”

Please take the time to wish Linda well on her next journey and thank her for all the work and time she has put into the University.