John Littlefield

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Category: Obituaries

Created on Thursday, 29 May 2014 12:55

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John Littlefield walked into the forest Saturday, May 24, 2014.
John was born Oct. 10, 1946, in Sitka, the fourth of eight children of Edward William and Martha “Monte” (Carlo) Littlefield. His Lingit names were Teiyagook and Nas.aaxh. He was L’uknaxh.adi (Coho) clan, from Kayaashka Hit in Sitka.

Along with his grandfather and father, from 1952-2000, John worked on a 50-year dispute with the BLM and U.S. Forest Service to gain title to their ancestral lands near Nakwasina. He was successful in completing the process in 2000, gaining title (for the heirs) to the John H. and Annie (Peters) Littlefield Native allotment near Dog Point.
John first worked as a kid cutting halibut cheeks at the fish processor plant and then as a seine deckhand for his Uncles Tom Young and Bill Peters. Then he fished with Red Bower for one summer trolling in 1962. Red mentored him all that summer and took him to the Seattle World’s Fair on vacation that fall, his first trip out of Sitka. He was amazed!
John entered the Army in November 1966 at the age of 20. He trained in electronics, which served as his profession for the rest of his life.
He went to Vietnam in 1967, and received the National Defense Service Medal with two bars, the Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal.
He was released from service in the fall of 1969, then attended Sheldon Jackson College for a semester. He was accepted as an electronics technician trainee for the FAA and worked for them for five years as a traveling electronics repair technician at Nenana, Level Island, Biorka Island, Annette Island, and other remote sites.
He met Roberta Eubank in 1970, in Fairbanks, and they married Aug. 21, 1971. They have four children.
John started his own electrical contracting business in 1984, naming it Roy’s Electric. He provided services for major construction projects all over Southeast Alaska, as well as Chevak and King Cove. In 2006 he closed up shop and retired.
John enjoyed poker, YouTube videos, sudoku, wood carving, fishing, hunting, and smoking fish and deer for his family and community.
He and his wife Roby founded (in 1986) the Dog Point Culture Camp and Children’s Survival training programs, educating hundreds of local children in traditional values and subsistence skills for more than 25 years.
John was a past chairman of NSRAA board of directors, past chairman of the Southeast Alaska Regional Advisory Counsel, member of the Sitka Fish and Game Advisory Board, and a member of the Alaska Native Brotherhood. He was a retired member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union 1547 and a member of Sitka Tribe of Alaska, serving his people on the Customary and Traditional Resources Commission. He was also a member of Shee Atika Inc., Sealaska and CIRI corporations.
John is survived by his wife of 43 years Roby Littlefield, his children Victor (Miranda Byrd), Dan, Edward and Kassandra; grandsons Brenon and Hunter; two sisters, Patricia Younack of Wasilla and Becky (Tom) Clark of Seattle; and two brothers, Terry, and Dana (Jocelyn) Littlefield of Sugarland, Texas.

He also is survived by his nephews Eric (Jennifer) Jones of Wasilla, Joe Younack, Paul Younack of Wasilla, Sean McKeough of Seattle, Stacy Clark of Juneau and Nick Clark of Lewiston, Idaho, and nieces Jennifer O’Donnel and Sharon Younack of Wasilla.
He was preceded in death by his sisters Anna May Breazeale and Judith McKeough, brother Mike O’Donnel, and an older brother who died young; nephew Mark Jones; and niece Christina Littlefield.
ANB services will be Sunday, June 1, at 3 p.m. at the ANB Founders Hall. A reception and meal will be at 4 p.m. and cultural services will begin at 5 p.m. Afterward he will lay in state at his clan house, Kayaashka Hit on Katlian Street.
On Monday, June 2, Episcopal graveside services will begin at 1 p.m. at Sitka National Cemetery, followed by a Military Color Guard and a Tlingit Warriors Cry. He will be laid to rest near his father and mother. A reception will follow at St. Peter’s Episcopal See House.
Pallbearers will be Victor, Dan, Ed and Greg Littlefield; Jamey Cagle, Robert Eubank, Kyle Young and Donovan Duncan.
Honorary pallbearers are Charlie Clark, Jay Stelzenmuller, Mike LaGuire, Nick Goddard, Scott McLeod, Greg Charlton, Paul Johnson, Tom Larson, Kay Dethridge, Nels Lawson, William Kanosh, Charlie Daniels, Gene Bartolaba, Ron Dick, Steele Clayton, Ramon Orsini and William (Ponjee) Jachetta.

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