Wilson Condon, a former Alaska attorney general and state revenue commissioner, died Sunday at the Anchorage Pioneer Home. He was 76.
Condon led a team of lawyers and experts, both as attorney general and in private practice, in the complex royalty lawsuits that became known as the Amerada Hess case. The collection of lawsuits brought by the state against North Slope oil companies spanned nearly two decades and by the mid-1990s had resulted in Alaska recovering more than $1 billion in unpaid royalties.
"He was an amazing human being and one of the smartest people I know," said Dan Dickinson, who worked with Condon on Amerada Hess and served under him as director of the Department of Revenue's tax division. "He had all the moving parts of the case under control and knew how they fit together. It was an amazing process primarily because of how well he managed it."
Condon served as attorney general under Gov. Jay Hammond from 1980-1982 and as Department of Revenue commissioner under Gov. Tony Knowles from 1995-2002. He also worked in the oil and gas section at the Department of Law from 2003-2005 during the tenure of Gov. Frank Murkowski.
Condon served on multiple state boards and commissions, including the board of trustees of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.
As revenue commissioner during an earlier state "fiscal crisis," he advocated the use of Permanent Fund earnings to help pay for state government, much as Gov. Bill Walker is doing now. During a speech in 2002, Condon likened the state's fiscal picture then to the Old Mother Hubbard nursery rhyme and said ''our cupboard ... is on its way to going bare." Declining oil prices, the foundation of Alaska's revenue, were then reaching a critical state, with state savings expected to be gone in a couple of years.
''Though some may choose to avoid reality, we are quickly approaching the day when Alaskans will have to help pay for the society we enjoy. And Permanent Fund earnings will be part of that payment plan,'' Condon said.
Larry Persily, who served under Condon as deputy revenue commissioner, said he was an "amazing mentor" who devoted his whole life in Alaska to oil, gas and financial issues and worked well with Republicans and Democrats alike.
"There are probably hundreds of people in Alaska who owe so much of what they know about oil and gas tax policies to Wilson," Persily said. "There are a couple generations of us who were taught by the man."
Persily said Condon enjoyed playing jokes and brought a healthy dose of levity to the office.
"He was fun. Had a strong mischievous streak," Persily said. "He was a guy who once wore a court jester's hat to a legislative meeting."
Condon was born Sept. 28, 1939, in Livingston, Montana, just north of Yellowstone National Park, where his father worked for the National Park Service. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a law degree from Stanford University.
Condon is survived by his wife of 41 years, Susan, of Anchorage, and his sister, Marianne Donnelly, of Pocatello, Idaho. Services in Anchorage are pending.