Obituary - Jane DeArmond Donnelly

Thursday, December 21, 2006
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

Former Juneau resident Jane DeArmond Donnelly, 66, died Dec. 17, 2006, at Sitka community hospital.

She was born Nov. 11, 1940, in Mrs. Brightman's birthing house on Monastery Street in Sitka. Her parents and their son were then living in Pelican. Her mother and brother made the trip to Sitka on a gas boat several weeks before the birth.

In 1944, the DeArmonds moved from Pelican to Ketchikan, where she started school. A few years later, they moved back to Sitka and then to Juneau, where she finished high school.

Soon after, she married Burl Brice Bigelow, who had just completed an enlistment in the Coast Guard. He entered college in Colorado and, with her steadfast help, graduated with a teaching certificate and subsequently taught in California and Montana.

The couple had three children: Dusk, Rand and Dawn. After separating in 1973, she drove from Montana to Prince Rupert with her children and caught the ferry to Sitka.

She went to work for the Forest Service and fell in love with another Forest Service employee, Harold "Bunny" Donnelly. They were married June 1, 1977, and had a daughter just over one year later.

She had four dogs: Harriet, Boomer, Rowdy, Maggie Moon and Jack Wussa, and three cats Emery, Mopus and Foofoo. She was especially fond of her dog Harriet, who had the distinction of being a former write-in candidate in the Miss Sitka Pageant and lived to be 24 years old.

On Jan. 21, 1977, she went to work at the Sitka Pioneers Home where she was first a clerk typist, and later became an administrative clerk. She retired on May 4, 1999.

She was proceeded in death by her mother, Dale DeArmond of Sitka, and father-in-law, Harold Donnelly Sr.
She is survived by her husband, Harold "Bunny" Donnelly; father, R.N. DeArmond, of Sitka; brother, William DeArmond, of Sitka, mother-in-law, Florence Donnelly; sister-in-law, Eva Cici of Sitka; daughter, Heather Donnelly, of San Diego; sons, Dusk Bigelow, of Hawaii, and Rand Bigelow; daughter, Dawn McClung and her husband, Brent, of Sitka; grandchildren, E.B. Crow, Fred Elliott, Bradley Ross, Brandon Ross and Bryan Joseph, all of Sitka, and Zoey Brice Bigelow, of Juneau; and dear family friend, Jorgen Eliason.

There will be a celebration of her life at 6 p.m. Friday at the Presbyterian Church in Sitka. All are welcome to attend and to bring a dish if they like.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to Sitka Community Hospital.