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ANCHORAGE, AK – Robert “Bob” Hallinen, 77, beloved husband, father, photographer, and chronicler of Alaska life, died July 26, 2026, in Anchorage following a brief battle with cancer.
Bob was born to Hans and Esther Hallinen. He started his career as a student assistant to the university photographer at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan in 1970. He left college to pursue photography, working for several newspapers in Michigan before accepting what was intended to be a one-year position with the Ketchikan Daily News. Alaska soon became home.
After Ketchikan, Bob and his wife, Darlene, moved to Anchorage, where he worked for the Anchorage Times and later the Anchorage Daily News. During 33 years at the ADN, he documented Alaska’s history, people, wildlife, and everyday life.
Bob’s photographs contributed to the ADN’s “People in Peril” series, which received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. The following year, Bob and fellow ADN photographers Erik Hill and Paul Souders were Pulitzer Prize finalists for their coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. His subjects ranged from major news events and the Iditarod to a rare white raven and the swans of Potter Marsh.
Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Hans and Esther Hallinen, and his brother, Bruce Hallinen of Trenary, Michigan.
He is survived by his wife, Darlene (Wells) Hallinen formerly of Escanaba; daughter Rhiannon (Daniel) Calkin, Son Hans Hallinen. Siblings Cheryl (Warren) MacDonald of San Diego, California; David (Jean), of Marquette, Michigan; and Lorriann (Joseph) Lyons of Ralph, Michigan.
A private Celebration of Life is being planned for family and close friends, with a public event to be held in the near future.