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Fannin County Witness to History: Genie Broadfoot Chance
By Malinda Allison, Fannin County Historical Commission
May 4, 2026
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Fannin County Witnesses to History

A Joint Project of the Sam Rayburn House Historic Site and the Fannin County Historical Commission

Celebrating America 250 with Spotlights of Fannin County Citizens Who Participated In or Witnessed  Historical Events

Fannin County, Texas -- Genie (Emma Gene Broadfoot) Chance was born January 24, 1927 to Albert Sidney and Jessie Broadfoot. (Her father, Albert Sidney Broadfoot, served as County Attorney for Fannin County, State Representative for Fannin County and District Judge for the 6th  Judicial District.)

Genie graduated from Bonham High School in 1941 and from North Texas Teachers College (now the University of North Texas). She married William Chance in 1947 and they moved to Anchorage, Alaska in 1959.

In Anchorage she worked for several radio stations, becoming one of the first women in Alaskan broadcast news.

 In 1964 there was a major (9.2 magnitude) earth in Alaska.

photo from FindAGrave
Genie manned a temporary post “in the Alaska Public Safety Building where she started broadcasting information about the catastrophic damage throughout the Anchorage area and shared messages from family members looking for loved ones.”  She spent “the next twenty-four hours almost continuously coordinating response efforts, connecting available resources to needs around the community, disseminating information about shelters and prepared food rations, passing messages of well-being between loved ones, and helping to reunite families.”

For her work during the earthquake she received numerous awards.

She was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1968 and served for three terms and served a two-year term in the Alaska Senate.
 
She died in 1998 and is buried in Juneau, Alaska.

photo from Wikipedia

 
Information from Wikipedia and FindAGrave.