For a dog musher from Eureka, Susan Butcher sure did have a lot of high profile friends.

In Alaska, Susan Butcher was one of the top Iditarod dog racers ever, winning four races in a row before she died Aug. 5. But to a select group of celebrities and politicians, including George Lucas and Bill Gates, she was simply the friend they remembered Sept. 2 at Davis Concert Hall.

Lucas and family members of Gates and Sen. Ted Stevens paid tribute to Butcher. About 700 people attended, including former Gov. Tony Knowles and former state legislator John Binkley.

When doctors diagnosed Butcher with acute myelogenous leukemia in December 2005, Sen. Ted Stevens, Gates, and Lucas helped find a bone marrow donor and frequently visited her at the hospital. About 200 employees at Lucas's company, Lucasfilm, joined the National Bone Marrow Registry in February.

Lucas, the creator of "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones," met Butcher through the Academy of Achievement after Butcher won her first Iditarod in 1986.

"We met at a conference about 20 years ago, and we became very good friends," Lucas told the Sun Star.

During his eulogy, the famed director called her "a compassionate competitor," who was "straight-forward, tell-it-as-like-it-is, [and] tough."

"She really became my adopted sister," Lucas said. "I always thought of her as my younger sister, but she never thought of me that way. She was the boss."

Gates first met Butcher after he married his wife, Melinda, in January 1994.

His best man, Steve Ballmer, currently Microsoft Corporation's CEO, couldn't figure out what to give them, according to Melinda Gates, who spoke at the memorial. He had just seen Butcher at a speaking event and decided to see if she would host the newly-wed Gates for a weekend in Eureka, Alaska, and teach them how to dog mush.

"We had never stayed somewhere together where you had to boil your own water at night to keep warm and stoke the fire with wood at night," Gates said. "So it was quite an experience for us."

Lily Stevens, the senior Alaska senator's daughter, said she couldn't remember how Butcher became friends with her family or when they met.

"Susan and David have always been a fixture in my life, along with the girls and dogs," Stevens said.

Together, Butcher's friends' stories painted a picture of a tough, caring woman determined to win, who loved her dogs, her husband and her children.

Lucas, a self-described proponent of families, said he encouraged Butcher when she and Monson decided to have children. At the time, Lucas was retired, having not directed a movie since the first "Star Wars" in 1977. Butcher often talked to him about wanting to retire also so she could raise a family, he said.

"It's a very hard decision to make when you've devoted your life to an efficient endeavor that you seem to be extremely good at, to give it up for something everybody does," Lucas said. "But she was smart enough to realize that that is what it's all about."

Butcher treated everyone the same, Melinda Gates said. During one train trip, Gates and billionaire financier Warren Buffett were looking for one more player for a game of Bridge. The two convinced Butcher, who hadn't played it since she was a teenager and who had dyslexia, to join in. By the fifth day on the trip, Butcher was a staple at the card table.

"She was right in there playing with the best of them," Gates said.

When Butcher was in Seattle this last year getting cancer treatment, the Gateses were frequent visitors at the University of Washington Hospital.

Stevens told the audience about a trip Butcher took to Washington, D.C., in January 2001 to star in the presidential inaugural parade. Butcher and her husband pulled their truck into the driveway at the Stevens' D.C. home with not one or two but an entire team of huskies.

She also remembered when Butcher spoke at her high school graduation. Butcher wore the same dress her daughter Tekla was dressed in for the memorial.

"She told us, find your dream, and when you do, love it, nurture it, and hang on for dear life," Stevens said.

Butcher once told Lucas about a winter mushing trip across a frozen river. The ice broke, and she fell in trying to save a dog. Luckily, Lucas said, her dogs pulled her out.

"She used to say that everything that happened after that was a gift," Lucas said. "But every day is a gift."

Besides the speech, Lucas and his company, Lucasfilm, also produced an uncredited short documentary about Butcher using old news footage, personal photos, and Butcher's voice for narration, according to Ann Ringstad, associate vice chancellor for university advancement and community engagement. Lynne Hale, a family friend and also Lucasfilm's spokesperson, took calls from the media.

Still, from a man who has made a career out of space action epics and created the most famed adventure-seeking archeologist in film history, Indiana Jones, it wasn't surprising to hear Lucas voice his respect for his old, adventurous friend.

"Susan stuffed more into her life than most of us will ever live," Lucas said. "And I think ultimately, that's why she was needed somewhere else."