Anchorage Daily News April 4, 2005 Jessie Irene Daniel, formerly of Anchorage, died March 11, 2005, of natural causes at Hospice Friendship Village in Tempe, Ariz., with her daughter at her side. She was born Jessie Irene Smith in Cresson, Texas, on April 19, 1921, to George Hobert and Jessie Smith. She was raised in Texas and Oklahoma and graduated as valedictorian from Dundee High School in Dundee, Okla. She was also at the head of her class at Oklahoma City Business College. She married Ben Daniel in Oklahoma in 1941. In 1959, they moved to Anchorage, where they operated the Printer's Workshop until her husband's death in 1982. Mrs. Daniel then worked as a secretary for Richfield Oil Co. She experienced the Alaska earthquake in 1964. "(She) moved to Rancho Mirage, Calif., in 1986 to enjoy the warmth of the California sun," her family wrote. "Irene was always a businesswoman, whether it was assisting Ben or dealing in the stock market or in her own real estate ventures. Her intelligence and business acumen were a source of pride to her family. "Irene was blessed after Ben's death to be taken care of by her son and his family while living in Alaska and by her daughter and her family both during her time in Missoula, Mont., and in the last months of her life while living in the Phoenix area. "Irene is now 'working in concert' with her husband, Ben." Survivors include her daughter, Nancy Daniel of Corvallis, Mont.; son, Brian Daniel of Wasilla; five grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. Her ashes will be taken to Alaska and Oklahoma as she requested.