Olga Katherine Torkelsen "Katie" Hurley, was the Secretary to Alaska Territorial Governor Ernest Gruening from 1944 until his departure from office in 1953. She was Chief Clerk to the Alaska Constitutional Convention in 1955-56 and the secretary to the State Senate for five terms. In 1984, she was elected to seat 16-A in the state house, serving until January 1987.
Early life
Hurley was born in Juneau, the daughter of a fisherman. She attended Juneau High School where she was class salutatorian. She went on to attend Behnke-Walker Business College in Portland, Oregon. She joined the staff of Territorial Governor Ernest Gruening at a stenographer/clerk in 1940, when she was 19. She was married in 1944 and became the Executive Secretary to the governor that year, serving in the position until Gruening's departure from his post in 1953. Born in Juneau, Katie Hurley devoted her life to public service in Alaska. She started her career as the assistant to Territorial Governor Ernest Gruening for 12 years, and then served as the Chief Clerk to the Constitutional Convention, and then as the secretary of the Territorial Senate and the State Senate, after statehood. She has resided in Wasilla since 1960.
Political and civic life
Hurley served as the president of the State Board of Education for seven years and was the Executive Director of the Alaska Women's Commission for three years. She was the president of the National Federation of Federal Employees. She served as the Chief Clerk to the state Constitutional Convention in 1955–1956, and after statehood became the Secretary of the Alaska Senate for five sessions, and was on the Statehood Transitional Staff of Governor William A. Egan in 1959–1960. Hurley won the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor nomination in 1978, the first woman ever to win a statewide election in Alaska. She joined the ticket of the gubernatorial candidate, Anchorage attorney Chancy Croft. In 1984, she won state house seat 16-A, chaired the State Affairs Committee and was a member of the House Education Committee. She served on the Alaska Judicial Council. She was also elected to the Matanuska Electric Association board. She was the Chair of the Alaska Commission for Human Rights, the state Personnel Board and, for nine years, the Matanuska Telephone Association's Board of Directors. She lost her state house seat to Republican Curt Menard in 1986. In 2006, at 85 years old, rather than allow Republican felon Vic Kohring to run unopposed, she ran again for the state house but lost, despite Kohring's legal problems. She also served as the Executive Director of the Alaska Commission on the Status of Women and was the President of the StateBoard of Education for seven years. She was elected to the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame in 2009.
Personal info
Hurley was married to Joe Alexander in 1944 and their son David was born in 1946. She remarried in 1960 to Jim Hurley, a delegate to the Alaska Constitutional Convention and a member of the first state legislature. They moved to Palmer in 1960, where they purchased the office of the Alaska Title Guaranty company, then moved to the shore of Wasilla Lake in 1963. They later divorced. She had three children, David Alexander, Susan Alexander and Mary Hurley. She was the organist for St. David's Episcopal Church in Wasilla for decades. In 2001, she received the Dot Jones award, named for the first woman mayor of the Mat-Su Borough. In 2009, she was inducted into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame.
