Daily Sitka Sentinel

Demarie Wood

Demarie Sue (Fellows) Wood, a former Sitka resident, died April 1 at her home in Port Angeles, Wash., in the company of her family from complications of MS.
Demarie was born June 9, 1950, in Portland Ore., to Dean Claude  and Delores Lorayne (Forman) Fellows.
An “Army Brat,” she followed her father’s assignments from Camp Roberts, in California, Camp Hanford in Richland Wash., Fort Reilly in Kansas City, McDill Air Force Base in St. Petersburg, Fla., then to Germany in Mannheim and Kaiserslautern, and Stateside again to Lansing, Mich., and Portland, when her father was stationed in Korea, and finally in Fort Lewis, Steilacoom,  while he was in Viet Nam. The family finally settled in Olympia Wash.
Demarie attended more than 12 different primary schools and graduated from Lakes High School, in Lakewood Wash., in 1968. She attended Central Washington State College and graduated from The Evergreen State College in 1974 with a degree in field biology and a minor in ornithology. She introduced her husband Patrick to bird watching and they spent many years “birding” while pursuing all of their other recreational activities.
She met Patrick while working as a creel census sampler for Washington Department of Fisheries in 1973 and they were married in 1974 on the same day she graduated from college.
Demarie worked as a marine research technician for Battelle Research Labs in Sequim before relocating to Alaska in 1977. She worked the next 20 years as a fishery biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Ketchikan and Sitka.
 Demarie, an “Army Brat,” never lived in any one spot more than four years in a row until she and Patrick moved to Sitka where they spent 20 wonderful years working and living together.
 They spent “life” fly fishing for steelhead and salmon, hunting, crabbing and shrimping to their hearts delight. They also played at fly fishing steelhead and trout every fall along the west coast of North America from Alaska and British Columbia to California.
Demarie belonged to the American Fisheries Society, The International Women’s Fishing Association, the Sitka Parks and Recreation Committee, the World Wildlife Fund, Washington Fish Conservancy and The Sitka Volunteer Fishing Department.
 She also enjoyed playing fast pitch softball and bowling.
She is survived by her husband of 38 years Patrick; his mother, Darleen Wood; brothers Brian Fellows, Dixon Fellows, George Wood, Samuel Wood, and George Dawson; sisters, Georgina Campbell, Joey Dawson, Cheri Wood, Arleen Wood, Sheila Fellows and Kathy Fellows; and her beloved nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her father, Dean, and older brother Craig, both of whom died of cancer caused by Agent Orange exposure in Viet Nam.; her mother, Delores; her younger brother, Captain Scott Fellows U.S. Army;  her brother-in-law Mack Campbell; and her father-in-law, George P. Wood.
As she requested, no service will be held; she will be cremated, with her ashes to be spread on Sitka Sound.
There will be one less rod on the “River.”
Friends may contact Patrick Wood at 10 Melton Road, Port Angeles, WA 98363