Kevin Lynn Mitchell, 38, of Anchorage, was presumed deceased on September 22, 2015 from hypothermia amidst the Alaskan wilderness after an exhaustive search effort at mile 87.5 along the Seward Highway led by the Alaskan Troopers and AMRG and family and friends.  He was born February 21, 1977 in Anchorage, the son of Gary and Janet (Ground) Mitchell.  He often shared good memories of their family cabin in Cooper Landing where he hiked, fished and explored nature.    Kevin graduated from Dimond High School in 1995 where he was an honor roll student, took 2nd place in the State Wrestling Championship and won the State Football championship as an all-star varsity football player. He received a scholarship for wrestling at the Southern Oregon University in Ashland before he transferred to the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls where he obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering.   

Kevin had a passion for learning and taking on new hobbies from hiking, biking, and kayaking to wood working and cooking.  In college, he travelled in the South Pacific as part of “Semester at Sea”.  He also got training in Houston on a C-131 reduced-gravity aircraft.  His passion for flight was re-ignited when Kevin started paragliding and para-motoring in his 30s amongst the beauty of Alaska’s mountains.  While working as a field engineer for General Electric, he met his future wife Nicole Leary and asked her to come with him to Alaska. They were married in Greenfield, Indiana on September 25, 2004. They lived in Anchorage where Kevin worked as a Power Plant Superintendent at Municipal Light & Power for nearly 12 years and obtained his Mechanical Professional Engineering license.   

In 2006 and 2008, Kevin and Nicole were blessed with the birth of two wonderful daughters.  Kevin enjoyed spending time with the girls taking them to parks, building snowmen, sledding, skiing, hiking, fishing and riding bikes.  He especially loved watching them grow into beautiful young ladies.  His wife, Nicole, will forever cherish the life they built around their family, their adventures kayaking alongside whales out of Seward, biking to their rustic ‘cabin’ in Seldovia, fun family time shared at their cabin on Nancy Lake, fishing and picnics with family on Kenai Lake in Cooper Landing, walking on the beach on the Homer Spit, cross country skiing near their Anchorage home, watching him paragliding, and countless trips to visit family in Florida and Oregon.   

Kevin is remembered as a kind, loving, devoted, caring and supportive husband, father, son, brother, and friend who loved his family more than life itself.  In turn, Kevin was loved dearly by so many.  Kevin was even-keeled, steady, and strong.  He was adventurous, focused, and always devoted time to enjoying what is truly important in this life.  May Kevin rest in peace knowing that the girls will be raised with good values, focused on a relationship with God, and will be reminded often that Kevin loved them so so much.  Kevin is missed today and always.  Moving forward, his family will focus on what’s truly important and will strive to live each day to the fullest in Kevin’s honor. 

Kevin is survived by his wife Nicole Mitchell and their daughters Kaitlyn and Alyssa Mitchell, his parents Gary and Janet Mitchell of Cooper Landing, and his sister Kristin Blees and her family.  He also leaves his paternal grandfather, Floyd Mitchell of Klamath Falls.  He is also survived by his several aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, and niece. 

A celebration of life was held in Anchorage with family and close friends on April 23, 2016 in Anchorage.   Donations can be made to one of the following in Kevin's honor:
1) Mitchell Children Education Fund - checks would be written to Edward Jones FBO Alyssa & Kaitlyn Mitchell and mailed to Edward Jones at 3380 C Street #110, Anchorage AK 99503
2) Cooper Landing Historical Society & Museum at PO Box 542, Cooper Landing AK 99572