Pa. native killed in Alaska

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa.

Candice D. Berner, formerly of Slippery Rock, was living her dream teaching special-needs children in Alaska when at the end of the school day, while out running, she was apparently attacked and killed by wolves.

Berner, 32, moved to Alaska last August to work as an itinerant special-education teacher for the Lake and Peninsula School District on the Alaska Peninsula, flying to five villages weekly, said Rick Luthi, assistant superintendent.

The Alaska Peninsula Highway Patrol at King Salmon said the Butler County, Pa., woman’s body was discovered around 7:30 p.m. Monday near Chignik Lake by people on four-wheelers. Troopers said they would not release full details of her death pending the results of an autopsy, expected within the next few days.

However, Luthi said there is strong indication that she was attacked by wolves. Her father, Robert A. Berner of Slippery Rock, said he was told her body was discovered by kids on an all-terrain vehicle who scared the wolves away.

Luthi said Chignik Lake was one of the villages at which she taught. He described her as one of those people who create excitement and who people want to be around.

“She had a spirit of adventure and fit into our environment very well. It takes a special person to live and work here,” he said.

Berner, who is also the daughter of Diana Berner of Grove City, Pa., was a 1996 graduate of Grove City High School. She received a bachelor’s degree in 2000 from Slippery Rock University and taught several years in California before returning to Pennsylvania and getting a master’s degree in 2008 from Slippery Rock.

Her father said she was fearless and an adventurer and an athlete. He said she completed a marathon run last summer and while in high school boxed in Golden Gloves, with a record of 3-3 at 4 feet 11 inches, and competed in a national power-lifting contest.

She loved Alaska and immersed herself in the native Alaskan culture, her father said.

Funeral arrangements are pending at Cunningham Funeral Home in Grove City.