Marian Paul DeWitt, who was the eldest surviving member of the Kaach.adi Xixch’i Hit of Wrangell, died April 17 in Anchorage. She was 94.
Marian Paul DeWitt
The mother, auntie and grandmother “lived and worked tirelessly to raise up her children and some of her grandchildren,” her family said. “She was feeling tired, and now Mom is at rest.”
Marian, whose Tlingit and Tahltan name was Daskawah, was born Nov. 21, 1921, in Petersburg, the daughter of Louis and Matilda Jones Paul. Her grandparents were Native leaders Louis Paul and Tillie Paul Tamaree and William Tamaree; and Charlie and Susie Tahltan Jones.
Marian’s parents ran the printing press for the Alaska Fishermen, a newsletter of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, Alaska Native Sisterhood, her mother said.
Marian attended Juneau High School and then moved to Sitka and graduated from Sheldon Jackson High School.
During World War II, she worked in the Navy shipyard in Tacoma, Wash., and then moved to Los Angeles where she attended college for three and a half years.
She married Benjamin Grant in 1945, and in 1950, after his death, she married John DeWitt in Wrangell.
Her last work for the clan was signing to repatriate the Xixch’i Hit Frog hat that was in an Oakland museum and is now back home in Wrangell. It was an important action that helped revitalize the cultural identity of the Wrangell Kaach.’adi clan members, her family said. Although she was unable to attend the ceremony, about two years ago, photos of it were taken for her.
During her years in Wrangell, Marian was a member of Wrangell ANB Camp 1, and held office, including that of treasurer for several years. She also served on the Tlingit & Haida Community Council during the formative years of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act – her children remember their parents rushing around with dinner and then out the door for many meetings and school activities, band, basketball and wrestling.
Marian also was active in the Presbyterian Church, serving as secretary/treasurer and elder. She worked at National Bank of Alaska, now Wells Fargo, and after semi-retirement she continued working with the elementary children as an elder teacher aide.
She loved reading and playing the piano and bingo.
In the late 1970s she moved to Anchorage, and lived her remaining 35 years with her daughter Linda.
Marian was preceded in death by her husband John DeWitt and their sons Miles and Michael DeWitt; her sisters Nana Estus and Gladys Dailey Burkhart; her brothers Louis Paul III and Richard Paul; her parents Louis Paul and Matilda Jones Paul; and her grandparents Charlie Jones and Susie Tahltan Jones and Louis Paul, William Tamaree and Tillie Paul Tamaree.
Marian is survived by her children Peter Grant of Hastings, Minn., Cynthia DeWitt of Juneau and Linda DeWitt of Anchorage; grandchildren Travis Grant of Seattle, Ty Grant of Hoonah, Tamaree Kawagely Speaks of Texas, Meda DeWitt Schleifman of Wasilla, and Jaime Grant Miller of Hastings, Minn.; great-grandson Derrick Speaks; and numerous great-grandchildren, nephews and nieces.
A service will be held in Anchorage at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 7, with a potluck to follow at her last residence in the Chickaloon Building Commons, 8901 Peck Ave, Cook Inlet Housing Authority, located in the east part of Anchorage.
Her wish was to have her ashes taken to Wrangell and placed with her husband John DeWitt, her son Michael and her sister Nana Estus at Salmon Bay. The date will be decided later with her family and other relatives.
She lived and worked tirelessly to raise up her children and some of her grandchildren, her family said. “She was feeling tired, and now Mom is at rest.”