Josephine Gloria “Josie” (Kanosh)

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Category: Obituaries

Created on Tuesday, 04 March 2014 14:30

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Josephine Gloria “Josie” (Kanosh)  Melzo, 64, passed away suddenly at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014. 
Memorial services will be held 8 p.m. Thursday, March 6, 2014, at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi. Donations and food are welcome.
Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Friday, March 7, at the Assembly of God Church, 214 Kimsham Street, with a celebration of her life to follow at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi.
Josie was born in Angoon on May 2, 1949, the daughter of Naomi (Dick) Kanosh and Joe Kanosh. She was the seventh of nine children.
She was a member of the Ch’aak Kudei Hit (Eagle Nest House) in Sitka, daughter of the Kaagwaantaan of Sitka clan mother Naomi Kanosh.  Her Tlingit name was Kaawootk Ghuwakaan.
Josie grew up in Angoon until 1965 when the family moved to Sitka. She attended Chemawa Indian School before returning to Sitka to raise her children. She worked for a short time in the Chatham fishing cannery and also at the Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital Laboratory in her younger years.
Josie loved her children and grandchildren and was known by many as Gramma Josie or Auntie Josie. She enjoyed playing bingo, cards and other games; loved to sing, to cook and have get-togethers with family and friends.  She loved to bead and make jewelry and give presents to the children.
She would always call her children at midnight on their birthdays to be the first to sing the happy birthday song.
She enjoyed spending time with her lifetime partner Richard Benton who took care of her and loved her for 23 years. 
Josie was preceded in death by both her parents, Joe and Naomi Kanosh;  her son Cliffton Melzo; and her sisters Esther Pas and Bertha Bray.  Other relatives who preceded her in death were Mary Judson, Joe Judson, Richard Dick, Helen Flood, Priscilla Corpuz, Mary Castro, Bessie Kitka, Lydia Dick, Lillian Fawcett and Diane Right.
Surviving relatives include her daughter Lillian Kanosh of Juneau; her son Leon Kanosh and daughter-in-law Deborah Kanosh of Florida; her son Donald Peratrovich, Juneau; her sisters Donita Kotchutin (Anchorage), Rachel Baker (Oregon), Regina Jack (Angoon) and Rose Peratrovich (Sitka); her brother William Kanosh (Sitka); five grandchildren, Michelle Kanosh (Seattle), Caitlin Kanosh (Virginia), Clarissa Peratrovich (Wasilla), and Bailey and Ethan Kanosh (Florida); and her first great-granddaughter, Kendanali Kanosh (Virginia).
She will also be missed by many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews and numerous aunts and uncles.
Honorary pallbearers are Brian James, Jeff Nelson, Chuck Miller, David Kanosh, Delbert Kanosh, Cyril George, Lillian Parduhn, Diane Church and Victor Johnson.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name at First Bank account# 824400.

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