George Vaara

{{short description|American politician (1899–1976)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = George Vaara | office = 14th Mayor of Anchorage, Alaska | term_start = April 8, 1940 | term_end = April 9, 1941 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1899|5|26}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1976|7|26|1899|5|26}} | predecessor = Herbert E. Brown | successor = William Alex Stolt }}

'''George Vaara''' (May 26, 1899 – July 26, 1976) was an American politician who served as the 14th mayor of Anchorage, Alaska, from 1940 to 1941.

==Biography== George Vaara was born May 26, 1899, in Ada, Minnesota. He moved to Anchorage in 1923 and worked as a clerk in a Piggly Wiggly grocery store. In the 1930s, he opened a notions store called ''Vaara Varieties''. He was elected president of the Anchorage School Board in 1939.<ref>{{cite news |title=School Board Elected |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117133531/george-vaara-1899-1976/ |work=Fairbanks Daily News-Miner |date=April 19, 1939 |location=Fairbanks, AK |page=8 |access-date=January 24, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref>

Vaara was elected mayor in 1940 in the midst of a housing shortage brought on by the arrival of military personnel preceding the construction of Fort Richardson. He served a single term.

Vaara built a Pepsi-Cola plant on Fifth Avenue in 1943, selling it fifteen years later.

In 1958, Vaara made a bid for nomination as the Republican candidate for governor of the new state of Alaska.<ref>{{cite news |title=Anchorage Man Governor Hopeful |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117062968/george-vaara-1899-1976/ |work=Medford Mail Tribune |date=July 29, 1958 |location=Medford, OR |page=5 |access-date=January 23, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=5th Candidate Seeks Alaska Governorship |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117201389/george-vaara-1899-1976/ |work=The Capital Journal |date=July 29, 1958 |location=Salem, OR |page=16 |access-date=January 25, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref> He withdrew several days later, citing a "heated controversy" between factions of the party.<ref>{{cite news |title=Factional Strife Leaves Wounds on Anchorage Republicans |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/116994146/george-vaara-1899-1976/ |work=Fairbanks Daily News-Miner |date=July 30, 1958 |location=Fairbanks, AK |page=11 |access-date=January 22, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref>

Vaara moved to Seattle, Washington in 1960. He died at his home in Seattle on July 26, 1976, following a year of incapacitation due to a stroke.

==References== {{reflist}} {{refbegin}} * {{Citation | title = Former Mayor Dies In Seattle | newspaper = Anchorage Times | pages = 2 | date = July 28, 1976 }} {{refend}}

{{s-start}} {{succession box | before=Herbert E. Brown| title=Mayor of Anchorage| years=1940–1941| after=William Alex Stolt }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaara, George}} Category:1899 births Category:1976 deaths Category:20th-century mayors of places in Alaska Category:People from Ada, Minnesota Category:Mayors of Anchorage, Alaska Category:Alaska Republicans Category:American people of Finnish descent