Alaska School Yearbooks by County
Dick Meckem Chitty
Former Juneau resident Dick Meckem Chitty died May 8, 2008, in Anacortes, Wash., after a year's battle with small-cell lung cancer. He was 77.
He was born Nov. 12, 1930, on a farm outside of Crawford, Neb., to Merrill and Katherine (Meckem) Chitty. He started school in Nebraska, but due to the Depression, his family moved to Dubois, Wyo., where his parents found work.
In 1941, before the war started, his father went to Anchorage to work on the construction of Fort Richardson. In the spring 1941, he arrived with his mother and brother in Anchorage, where he attended school and graduated in 1947. He attended the University of Alaksa Fairbanks for one year, then transferred to the University of New Mexico.
He was briefly married in 1951 and had two children.
During a break in his education, he went to work for the Territorial Highway Department. While working on a project in Ketchikan in 1956, he met his future wife at the bowling alley in the Elks Club. They were married in November 1957.
When the Territorial Highway Department became the State Highway Department, he became involved in the Right of Way Division and was transferred to Juneau in 1960.
Oil exploration was expanding at Prudhoe Bay, and equipment needed to get to the state. As chief Right of Way agent, he worked to get approval for the haul road.
When his hobby moved to aviation, he and two others bought a Cessna 210 airplane. But his favorite flying was in a Beaver on floats for the Civil Air Patrol doing search and rescue work.
His job changed to deputy commissioner of the Department of Transportation. In 1983, he retired, settling in Anacortes.
He worked with the Lions Club in Juneau and the Sunriser Kiwanis Club in Anacortes. He also belonged to the Masonic Lodge in Juneau, Pioneers of Alaska, Alaska/Yukon Pioneers, Anacordes Elks Club, Fidalgo Yacht Club, the Sunrisers Golf Club and the Tuesday morning Methodist Mens Club. He was a former member of the Anochords and the Coyote Barbershop Chorus in Tucson, Ariz.
He also loved to read and bowl. He lived the life he loved, they said.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and brothers, Don Chitty, of Anchorage, and George Chitty, of Dubois, Wyo.
He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Diane Chitty; son, Mike Chitty and wife, Konnie, of Juneau; grandchildren, Casey and Cole Chitty, of Portland, Ore.; daughter, Dawn Kasiah, of Seattle; brother-in-law, Terry Hannum and wife, Nancy, of Denver, Colo.
Services were held on May 12 at the Anacortes Methodist Church.
Memorials in his name may be made to the Anacortes Methodist Church or Skagit County Hospice. The family may be contacted at 1904 Creekside Place, Anacortes, WA 98221.
Marguerite Jacobson
Former Angoon resident Marguerite "Peg" Jacobson died the morning of April 17, 2008, in Ketchikan, ending a full and wonderful life, her family said. She was 89.
She was born Feb. 10, 1919, in Norwich, Conn. After graduating from high school, she attended nursing school in Boston, receiving her certification as a registered nurse in 1944. She remained in Boston until entering the U.S. Army, where she served in several locations in Europe during World War II.
Upon returning home after the war, she and friends traveled to Fairbanks, where she attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks and met Carl "Jake" Jacobson, whom she married on Sept. 2, 1949. A son was born there in 1950. From there she moved to Anchorage where she lived for a brief period before moving and settling in Angoon in 1953 with her husband and three children.
In Angoon her many talents were employed, her family said. As the only person with medical training, she assisted with medical emergencies. She taught second grade for four years before quitting to run the Angoon Trading Co. with her husband.
In the early 1970s, she and her husband sold the store and moved into their log home on Killisnoo Island, where she continued to spend summers. She spent the winter months in her home on Maui, Hawaii.
In the early 1990s, she moved from Maui to the Whidbey Island area, where she lived until returning to Alaska in 2004. She lived there first with her daughter and later at the Ketchikan Pioneer Home.
She had many interests, which included extensive traveling, golf, swimming, crossword puzzles and cooking.
She is survived by her two daughters, Chris Aubertine, of Ketchikan, and Viccy Jacobson, of West Bountiful, Utah; 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Memorial services were held at the National Cemetery in Sitka where she joined her son, Hunter, and husband, Carl, who both preceded her in death.
Norman Jackson
Kake resident Norman L. Jackson died May 18, 2008, in Anchorage Native Medical Center. He was 66.
Born May 7, 1942, in Kake, to Thomas and Mona Jackson, he was a Tlingit Raven Kaach.adi (Fresh Water Marked Sockeye Salmon) and Haida Eagle Tiits Gitee Nei (Hummingbird). His Haida name was Stilth daa and Tlingit name was Aan eet ki.
He grew up and spent his life in Kake. He attended Kake Elementary School, graduated from Sheldon Jackson High School, attended Sheldon Jackson Community College and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he learned silver, copper and wood carving, and that started his master carving career. His totem poles and plaques are posted in University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle IHS Hospital, Kake Health Center and Sheldon Jackson College.
He served on the Kake Tribal Corp., Kake Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 10, Kake Community Council and Indian Education Board, to name a few.
He owned The Little Gunnuck Long House and a carving studio with his brother, Joel. During his life, he loved to share his knowledge, teaching and apprenticing numerous people, his family said. He donated his art generously and helped the Keex Kwaan Dancers with their regalia.
Family members said his special friends were Norma Jean and the Francis Dunn family; John, Cindy and the Svenson family; Holly Burns-Churchill and family; Lisa Telford; Laurie Cropley; Victoria McDonald and her sons; Tara and Eli Lucas and family; and numerous friends across the country.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Thomas Jackson Jr.; nephews, Danny, Sam and Cal Dan Jackson; and uncles and aunts.
He is survived by his son, Burt Lee and wife, Mijita; granddaughters, Jossline Leeann and Angelina Louise Angel Pooh Jackson; brothers and sisters, Lary Schafer and wife, Velma, Jada Smith and husband, Henry, Cheryl Evan, Loren Jackson Sr., Della Cheney and husband, Bill, Larry Jackson and wife, Ellie, Michael Jackson and wife, Edna, Gary Jackson and wife, Julie, Joel Jackson and wife, Ann, Myron Jackson, Renee Kadake and husband, Henrich, Sharon Valdez, Eric Magnusson and wife, Merridy, Mary Ortiz and husband, Ned, Judy Owens and husband, Steven, Steve Andison and wife, Nancy, and Dave Arthur; 36 nieces and nephews, 35 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, one uncle and five paternal aunts.
An Anchorage memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, at the Korean Salvation Army on Eighth and Barrow streets. A second memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday in Juneau at the Salvation Army Church on Willoughby Avenue. He will be taken home to his final resting place in Kake, where memorial and funeral services will be held.
David Shanon Gallant
Former Juneau resident David Shanon Gallant died March 29, 2008, in Anchorage after a decade-long battle with cancer.
Born in Skagway, she was the daughter of Julia and Harold Gallant. She was raised in Haines and later Juneau, where her traditional Tlingit grandmother, Jenny David, had a hand in her upbringing and gave her the Indian name "Skeek," which she translated as "a bird that flies over the horizon." She was Kaagwaantaan, lukaax.ádi-yadi.
She attended Juneau-Douglas High School before winning a full scholarship in 1965 to the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M., where she studied under nationally know artists such as James McGrath and Lloyd New. Her work was included in a Department of Interior show that toured Europe and her first painting sold for $1,500, but on graduation she was hesitant to attend college.
Finally, refusing funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and her father, she signed on with professor Ron Senungetuk at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, driving a school bus to pay expenses. Sensitive about semantics, Senungetuk made the point that he was first an artist and then an Eskimo, and she followed his lead, experimenting with modern art media and techniques, as well as traditional concepts.
Later transferring to Rhode Island School of Design, she came under the influence of western artists such as John Battenberg and Harry Powers, experimented with California concepts and focused on metal sculpture. Then, with a bachelor of arts in hand, she studied for 18 months in Rome, South America and Mexico, producing 150 pieces of art.
The resulting show - a barrier-breaking collection of metal sculpture, oil paintings, wood carvings and Plexiglas - got mixed reviews. To the artist's delight, it also got her work featured by the "Alaska Journal: History and Arts of the North" (Summer 1976) in a cover story titled "The Outrageous Gallant."
Still much influenced by western artists, she went on to study at San Jose State, took a hiatus of a few years as a landscape gardener in San Francisco, and then got her master's in art from University of California at Monterey Bay. Somewhere along the way, she officially adopted her grandmother's last name as her first, and turned her back on traditional art forms. She had been working in computer graphics and Web design ever since.
Her avocations included cooking to entertain, hiking, reading everything she could get her hands on and coaching computer-challenged friends who sought help. In addition, she tutored fledgling artists interested in her field.
An art scholarship is being established in her name at University of Alaska Fairbanks.
She is survived by her sister, A. Lee Liberté, of Juneau.
A celebration in her honor is being planned. For information, contact Lael Morgan at laelmorgan@cs.com.
Mary Swigart
Longtime Juneau resident Mary Margaret Swigart died peacefully on May 17, 2008, at Wildflower Court in Juneau. She was 87.
She was born and raised and attended college in Moberly, Mo. She lived in Kansas City, Mo., San Francisco, Houston and Los Angeles before moving to Juneau in 1982. She worked as a secretary for the Alaska Department of Administration for eight years before retiring in 1990.
Family members said she was known for her love of baking and particularly for her banana nut bread, which she baked in large batches and gave to many people around town.
Since March 2004, she resided in Wildflower Court, where she was appreciated for her gentle spirit and sweet smile, family said.
She was beloved by her family and will be sorely missed, her son-in-law and grandson said.
"Goodnight, always, to all that's pure that's in your heart," her grandson added.
She is survived by her daughters, Mary Pagenkopf, of Juneau, and Nila Sanders, of Northridge, Calif.; son-in-law, Michael Farrow, of Northridge; and grandchildren, Matthew Sanders, of Northridge, Kris Gagne, of Sacramento, Calif., and Shannon Cavanagh, of New Jersey.
No service is planned.
