Farewell to Lynden retirees

Jim Maltby, Lynden

After 34 years, Jim Maltby retired as Health, Safety and Environmental Director for the Lynden companies. Jim's background as a firefighter influenced his early work at Lynden which spanned safety, emergency management, and environmental programs. He began his career in 1991 as a Safety Coordinator at Alaska West Express. "In that role, I began conducting safety and emergency response training for Alyeska, and people working in the oil fields. Eventually, we decided to open a training center focusing on specialized education." The Lynden Training Center is now thriving and serves companies throughout Alaska. 

"I am proud that I was part of the inception of the training center and the many accomplishments our team has made to improve our health, safety, security and environmental performance," Jim says. Coordinating safety audits was a big part of his job in the early years to make sure Lynden companies were operating safely. Another first during Jim's career was the installation of event recorders (cameras) in vehicles. "We started testing in 2016 and installed Smart Drive cameras in 2017. Our accidents went down and eventually were [among the] lowest in the nation," he says. "Chargeable accidents were 0.8 per million miles. I was able to educate most of the drivers myself."  

When asked to name memorable projects, Jim says big ammo moves for the Department of Defense stand out, as well as moving missile silos, launch tubes, and other equipment from Valdez for the military. "The runway was too short at Fort Greely for their planes to land, so we put together the longest land movement of a missile from Eielson AFB 120 miles to Fort Greely. It required special clearances for many of our employees and remains one of our most complex projects." Another memory is traveling to Sakhalin Island, Russia, for six weeks to teach new oil and gas employees western business standards.

But haul road emergency response brings out some of Jim's best stories. "Those were crazy times, riding five days on the haul road at 55-below responding to emergencies like a fully loaded cargo tank stranded on its side. We might have to drill into the tank and drain chemicals or perform other tasks for a variety of other crisis situations. On our way to the response site from Fairbanks, we might run into two or three other wrecks blocking the road. We had to assist with those first, then keep going."

There were times when food and water became an issue after being out there for days. "People would bring us supplies so we could keep going," Jim remembers. "Driver Fred Austin would often have canned spam, and we would pop the hood to use the engine to heat it. Those were the best sandwiches you've ever had in your life!"

Jim says it's the people like Fred Austin that he will miss most in retirement. "It's all about the people. I've worked with some great ones over the years." His post-work plans are simple: golf, travel, and shooting guns (target practice). A move to a warmer, sunnier climate might be in the plans over the next year as well, possibly Arizona or Nevada. 

Stephanie Littleton, Lynden

"I was hired as a staff accountant in 1990 and moved to the tax department three years later," says Stephanie Littleton. After serving as manager of the department for many years, she retired as Vice President of Tax in December. Stephanie says a lot has changed in her 35 years at Lynden from the days when HJ (Hank Jansen) came to Seattle once a week, to Jim Jansen taking the helm, and now watching Jason Jansen in his new leadership role. 

"I have had the pleasure of working with the family over the years and appreciate the efforts taken to make sure Lynden grows while making it still feel like we work for a small company where employees matter," she says. "Adopting the 2017 Tax Act at the same time we converted Lynden back to a C corporation using the accrual method was the most memorable project of my career. However, my biggest accomplishment is having a strong team to help in these projects."

"The growth of Alaska Marine Lines and Lynden Transport has been amazing to witness," she adds. "It has been impressive and challenging from a tax perspective to watch Lynden change from primarily a trucking company in Alaska and Washington to a multi-mode multi-national transportation company."

Stephanie's retirement plans include "doing whatever comes up that for the last 35 years I have had to say, 'I would love to do that, but I have to work!'"  

Dennis Mitchell, Lynden Logistics

After more than 30 years, Lynden Logistics Vice President Dennis Mitchell retired at the end of 2025. He started his Lynden career in 1994 as the Anchorage International Manager. He served in that position for more than 10 years before moving up to several management positions including Manager for Oil & Gas, and his last post as Senior Vice President Freight Operations. Dennis also served on the board of the Airforwarders Association for many years. When asked about memorable projects over the years, he says it's hard to choose a favorite. 

"Getting the four-year contract for Sakhalin Energy in 1998 in Russia, moving 100-foot-long oilfield equipment from Italy to Prudhoe via charter ship, and saving a gas customer a million dollars on a charter from Korea to Prudhoe rank right up there," Dennis notes. "Our latest work providing services to Santos for the Pikka project in Alaska was a nice project to end on." 

Sylvia Chew, Lynden Transport  

"I began working for Lynden Transport three weeks after graduating from the University of Washington and never had another job," says Sylvia Chew. "I first processed accounts payable and payroll, eventually working my way up to Vice President and Controller." Sylvia says she learned a lot, especially in the early days when there was a lot of work and problem solving to do. "But those times were also challenging and lots of fun. There was always a diverse group of employees around, and I have made some excellent friends over the years here." 

She now plans to get on with the next phase of her life – a little golf in the mornings and lounge around in the afternoon reading books from the New York Times list of the Top 100 books everyone should read. "When that starts taking too long, I'll binge watch these classics on Netflix or take a nap," she says.

Brian Lopez, Alaska Marine Trucking

After a 30-year career with Arrowhead Transfer and Alaska Marine Trucking in Juneau, Brian Lopez retired at the end of 2025. Brian started as a warehouseman for Arrowhead, then moved into the mechanic shop where he repaired and maintained countless forklifts, trucks, and other equipment. 

"When I started it was just Chuck Wiswell and me," he says. "My main task was to keep the chassis up to date, but I also enjoyed tasks like winter snow removal using the heavy equipment and loading and unloading ferries. I really had a lot of fun working with people like Frank Palmer and Don Reid. Don always stressed safety in our operations. I had a fantastic relationship with everyone I worked with. I will miss the crew." Brian and his wife, Janet, plan to do some camping in retirement and visit their three children and three grandchildren. 

Jeff Yokoyama, Lynden Transport

"I'm excited to start my next chapter in life after over 40 years in the business," says Jeff Yokoyama, who spent the past six years as Lynden Transport's Corporate Account Manager in Seattle. "My job required me to travel a lot, so I've been able to visit many different locations and meet most of our customers in person. With the support of our customer service, sales, and operations teams we have brought on many new customers."

"One of the things that attracted me to Lynden Transport was the longevity of the employees. I thought it must be a pretty nice place to work for with so many individuals staying for a good portion of their careers." Jeff's retirement plans include golf, travel, serving on boards, and helping out at his church. "Of course, I have my honey-do list from my wife which includes painting and general stuff to do around the house. Overall, I plan on enjoying life and spending it with family and friends," he says. "I will miss everyone at Lynden Transport and our sister companies."