Thomas August Fink (August 26, 1928 – June 4, 2021) was an American Republican politician from

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. He was

Mayor of Anchorage This is a list of mayors of Anchorage, Alaska, United States. Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage was incorporated as a city (Alaska), city on November 23, 1920. The Greater Anchorage Area Borough, which encompassed the city, was created in January 1964. ...

from 1987 to 1994 and

Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives This is a list of speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives. The Speaker (politics), speaker is the presiding officer of the Alaska House of Representatives. This list covers both the Alaska Territory, territorial House (convened mostl ...

from 1973 to 1975. He was also a member of the

Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board is an independent agency of the United States government by the Federal Employees Retirement System Act of 1986 (FERSA). It has roughly 270 employees. It was established to administer the Thrift Sav ...

, serving from 1997 to 2010.

Personal life

Fink was born in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

from

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,200 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in fiv ...

in 1950, and a J.D. from the University of Illinois Law School in 1952. He moved to

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

in 1952, and worked as a

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...

salesman from 1958 onward. He received his Chartered Life Underwriter certification from American College in 1963. Fink was in partnership with Don Schroer for 20 years,

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

The Schroer-Fink Agency. Schroer was also often involved in Fink's various campaigns for office. He died on June 4, 2021, at the age of 92.

Political career

Fink was elected to the

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people pe ...

in 1966, and became

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

in 1973. In 1975, he resigned in protest of a new law that would have required him to release a list of his insurance clients. Fink mounted an unsuccessful bid to succeed term-limited Republican

Governor of Alaska A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

Jay Hammond Jay Sterner Hammond (July 21, 1922 – August 2, 2005) was an American politician of the Republican Party, who served as the fourth governor of Alaska from 1974 to 1982. Hammond was born in Troy, New York and served as a Marine Corps fighter pi ...

in 1982. He ran on a platform promoting the relocation of the state capital from

Juneau Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of wha ...

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

, but was defeated by

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Bill Sheffield William Jennings Sheffield Jr. (June 26, 1928 – November 4, 2022) was an American Democratic politician who was the fifth governor of Alaska from 1982 to 1986. Sheffield's term in the governor's mansion was marked by controversy including att ...

. In

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, Fink was elected

in the wake of a dramatic drop in the price of oil, which devastated the local economy. During his term in office, he advocated the sale of ATU, the municipal telephone utility. He received national attention for his stance on

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

when he vetoed a 1993 municipal ordinance that would protect city employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The same year, he called for the cancellation of funding for

Pomo Afro Homos Pomo Afro Homos (1990–1995), short for postmodern African American homosexuals, was an African-American gay theater troupe founded in San Francisco by choreographer-dancer Djola Bernard Branner, actor Brian Freeman, and singer, dancer, and actor ...

, a local theater group that included works with homosexual themes in their repertoire."Pomo Afro Homos in Anchorage."
Retrieved March 22, 2007. In both cases, he was overridden by the

Anchorage Assembly The Anchorage Assembly is the governing body of Anchorage, Alaska. The Assembly has twelve members elected to three-year terms from six districts. It is responsible for creating and approving the city's annual budget, appropriating municipal fund ...

. In 1997, after sitting out one term, Fink returned to politics to mount an unsuccessful challenge to incumbent Republican mayor

Rick Mystrom Richard Mystrom (born 1944) is an American politician, businessman, and author who served as the 32nd mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage from 1994 to 2000. He is a member of the Republican party. Early life and education Mystrom was born i ...

References

External links

Alaska's Digital Archives
Tom Fink's 1970 campaign photo

Tom Fink
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Tom 1928 births 2021 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Alaska Bradley University alumni Businesspeople from Alaska Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board Insurance underwriters Mayors of Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Peoria, Illinois Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives University of Illinois College of Law alumni People from the Territory of Alaska LGBTQ in Alaska Anti-LGBTQ activists 20th-century members of the Alaska Legislature