George Byer

George Byer (died 2000) was Mayor of Anchorage, Alaska from 1959 to 1961.

Biography

George Byer moved to Alaska in 1947, after serving in the United States Army during World War II. From 1951, he worked as a mail carrier. In 1956, he campaigned successfully to have Anchorage named as "All-America City", and in 1959 he was elected mayor of the city, serving two terms. From 1963 to 1966 he sat on Anchorage's City Council, during which time he lobbied to renew Anchorage's "All-America City" status (1965), and launched an unsuccessful bid to bring the 1972 Winter Olympics to Anchorage. In 1967, he ran once again for Mayor of Anchorage, but lost to George Sullivan.

In later years, he lived in Hemet, California and was active in efforts to promote world peace. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988 for his efforts to declare 1990 as the "International Year of Friendship." [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0826/is_n2_v5/ai_7409479] His nominators included Alaska Senator Frank Murkowski.

He died, age 88, of heart disease in Hemet on August 22, 2000.

References

* Citation
title=Former City Mayor George Byer Dies
newspaper=Anchorage Daily News
pages=B1
date=August 22, 2000