Obituary - Rita McLeod

Wednesday, January 24, 2007
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

Hoonah resident Rita Laura (Dalton) McLeod, died Jan. 17, 2007, in Hoonah. Her Tlingit name was Gun X Su Wa Tlex of the Yeil Kudei Hittaan (Raven Nest House), T'akdeintaan Clan and a Kaagwaantaan Yatxee. She was 63.

She was born Sept. 26, 1943, in Hoonah, where she lived in her early years until she moved to Mt. Lake Terrace, Wash. She returned to Hoonah in June 2004. She worked at Pete's Hoonah Crab Cannery and at Z Brick in Woodinville, Wash.

Her hobbies included crocheting, beadwork, working on subsistence food, dehydrating fruits and most of all driving out to False Bay to see the wildlife, picking berries and family picnics.

She was a shareholder of Huna Totem and Sealaska Corp., and an enrolled member of Hoonah Indian Association.

She was a member of the Presbyterian Church Choir of Hoonah and a cheerleader for Hoonah schools.

She attended Hoonah public schools and Sheldon Jackson in Sitka. In 1964, she was a secretary to Hoonah Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 12 of Hoonah, where she became a lifetime member.

She was preceded in death by her significant other, Benjamin E. Light; father, George Dalton Sr., of the Kaagwaantaan Wolfhouse; mother, Jessie K. (Starr) Dalton "Naa Tlaa" of the Yeil Kudei Hittaan; sister, Sarah A. Sharclane; brother, Richard Dalton Sr.; and sister, Lila Hubbard.

She is survived by her son, Phil Goshinska and his wife, Heather, and their children, Zachary and the twins, Alex and Niklas of Seattle; daughter, Shelley Anne Light of Seattle; sister, Violet Cote of Seattle; brothers, Thomas G. Dalton Sr. of Seattle, George Dalton Jr., and his wife, Hattie of Hoonah, and Dan Neal and his wife, Darcy, of Hoonah; adopted brothers, John Holmquist, of Juneau, Skip Wallen of Juneau, Bill Paden of Sitka, and Jim Hembree; and numerous nephews and nieces.

Services were held by the Alaska Native Sisterhood on Tuesday in Hoonah.

Pallbearers were Annette M. Osborne and Minnie Dalton. Honorary pallbearers Frank White Sr., Paul White Sr., Mark White, Alfred McKinley Sr., LeRoy McKinley and James Jack Sr.