LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Federal officials on Wednesday approved most of Alaska’s four-y [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
At an hour-long work session with the Assembly Tuesda [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
The story behind a classic, though often misunderstoo [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
The state government risks losing millions of dollars in feder [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday signed a bill that promise [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, known for its steep mountains [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing Wednesday in competitive division City League volleyball matches, Ca [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 27
At 2:36 p.m. a dead [ ... ]
This Week in Girls on the Run
By Sitkans Against Family Violence
and The Pathways Coalition
During th [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]
By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in [ ... ]
By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]
Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
James D. Howard Dies; Former Sitkan was 71
James David “Jim” Howard “Yashenteen”
James David “Jim” Howard “Yashenteen,” Tlingit Coho, unexpectedly passed away Jan. 10, 2021, at the Yuvapai Memorial Hospital in Prescott, Arizona, a day before his 71st birthday.
He had fallen ill Jan. 2 and had tested positive for COVID-19.
A member of the large, well-known and longtime Sitka family, Jim was born in Sitka Jan. 11, 1950, the son of Margaret and William Eli Howard Sr.
After graduating from Sitka High School, Jim attended the Alaska Skill Center in Seward, earning a vocational certificate credential in accounting. His first post-education jobs began January 1980 at the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska in Juneau, where he remained until 1983. He went on to a 20-year career at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Juneau and Anchorage, that lasted to 2004. In 2005 he took a job with the Department of the Interior, Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, as a program analyst in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he remained until he retired in 2013.
After retirement, Jim relocated to Prescott, Arizona, a place that grew on him, and he remained there until his passing.
Jim was predeceased by his parents, William Eli Howard Sr. and Margaret Howard; brothers Leo Lonnie Houston, Jr. and William Eli “Buddy” Howard Jr., Frederick David Houston, Charlie Dick Wright and Jacob John Wright; and sisters Irma Gertrude Button, Martha Emma Wright, and Doris Marie Wright; and nephew Phillip Schoonover.
Jim’s surviving brothers and sisters are Frank Glade Wright Jr., Paul Nicholas Wright, Samuel Richard Wright, Sharon Ann Wright-Brown, Phyllis Christine Tischer, Johanna Houston-Iverson, Deborah Picken, and Margeret Florence Wright. From his siblings came many nieces and nephews.
Jim also is survived by the mothers of his children: Evelyn Christine Taylor, with whom he had a son, Jason David Howard, in 1976; and Donna Lang, with whom he had a daughter, Erin Michelle Jessup, in 1988 and a son, Brian Jameson Howard, in 1990.
Jim also is survived by five grandchildren, Tiffany and Addison Katkus, and Michael Jessup, the three children of daughter Erin and Nicholas James Fleury and Quia Geshashw’gt-G’gwot Dangeli, the two sons of Jason Howard; and many close cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews, and many friends in Alaska and Arizona, all of them sad to see him go.
Jim is loved and missed by many. He was well known for his sense of humor and being a person of very few, but very meaningful, words, all which are missed by all. Son Brian said, “He wasn’t a man of many words, but they were worthy of a man I gladly called my dad.”
He loved bowling, many other sports, and the Seattle Seahawks. Each year he loved to make an annual visit to Santa Claus and have his photo taken with him. He was very proud of his Tlingit culture and family.
As soon as COVID-19 comes more under control and family members can come together, services will be held and he then will be buried next to his father, William Eli Howard, in Sitka, as he requested.
There are many, many, sad hearts involved here. COVID-19 was part of Jim’s passing. He was known to be a practicing mask wearer, and his family asked that everyone be aware that what they do can have serious, lasting, devastating effects on the lives of others.
“Please wear a mask always and snuggly against your face, two masks if possible,” family members urged. “Do everything you can to help alleviate the existence of this destructive virus.
Login Form
20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.