With George Brown’s death at age 96, comes the end of an era at the Lucky Wishbone

ADN, by Julia O’Malley

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The story of the flat-roofed restaurant on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Karluk Street isn’t about food so much as it’s about history and people and the value of things that don’t change. It begins with George Brown, who, until recently, could be found most days sitting on a stool at Counter B. He opened the place with his wife Peggy in 1955. He died on Saturday, ending an era for the popular diner. He was 96.

The Browns (Peggy passed away in 2011) were among the last of an adventurous generation that came to Alaska in the years following World War II, laid the bones of modern-day Anchorage and shaped a culture that still puts high value on work, relationships and being capable. The couple built a restaurant that has introduced generations in Anchorage to a simple, carefully-made sort of diner food that feels more precious as the decades pass: onion rings, a BLT on white, fried chicken livers, a malted chocolate shake.

I’ve enjoyed George’s company and food for nearly 50 years! And, am both grateful and happy that our friend, Pat, will continue the cherished, “Lucky Wishbone tradition”. -dh

Born in the farm town of Hager City, Wisconsin, in 1922, Brown joined the National Guard at 17 and learned to fly. He met Peggy and they married in 1944. Then he got orders to ferry supplies and troops in India and across the Himalayas, said his daughter Patricia Brown Heller.

After the war, the Browns traveled up the Alaska-Canada Highway looking for work and adventure. They rode in a 1949 Nash with two kids, Patricia and John, and a dog. Their second two kids, Corky and Lorelei, were born later. Brown took work on Elmendorf as a builder. He opened the restaurant in 1955 in a building he built himself. That was about the same time Ray Kroc got into the franchise business with McDonald’s.

“My dad was just an adventurous sort,” Heller said. “He had no fear.”

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