VOCAL EXERCISES - Artist in the Schools instructor Sarah Branton of Cherry Creek, Colorado, leads an exercise in the Sitka High School band room this morning as she teaches students how to improve their volume. Branton will be here all week working with choirs at Blatchley Middle School and Sitka High. Her instruction is part of the effort to rebuild school choir programs and numbers following the pandemic. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer City Administrator John Leach says Southeast Conference [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer Voting has been slow in the seven days since early votin [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer The Sitka School District welcomed an Artist in the Scho [ ... ]
By JOSHUA A. BICKEL The Associated Press KODIAK (AP) — Lane Bolich first came to work in Alask [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today: September 25 At 7:07 a.m. a bear was re [ ... ]
BMS Podcast Club to Register Sixth- through eighth-grade students can register for the Blatchley P [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer The Assembly will conduct its annual distribution of cit [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY Sentinel Staff Writer As part of fundraising aimed at increasing the stipend re [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS Alaska Beacon Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom has signed new regulations that allo [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS Alaska Beacon The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration is asking a U.S. D [ ... ]
Natural Resources Discussed at Meet Sitka Tribe’s Natural Resource Committee will meet 6:30 p.m. [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today: September 22 At 9:34 a.m. trash was rep [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer Sitka Fine Arts Camp has received a $372,000 grant from [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY Sentinel Staff Writer Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan emphasized the importance o [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff Sitka’s Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School has been named a National Blue Ribbo [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS Alaska Beacon This year’s Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend will be $1,312. The Al [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS Alaska Beacon Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan has picked a nine-member pa [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today: September 21 At 5:08 a.m. assistance wa [ ... ]
Climate Connection -- Sitka’s Probable Temperature Futurehe nonprofit Probable Futures has map [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY Sentinel Staff Writer Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke in opposition to a [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer How many days of food do you have available in your home [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing a $1 mil [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS Alaska Beacon More than half of Alaskans born within the state have moved away, ac [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS Alaska Beacon The Alaska Legislature will not meet in a special session this fall [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Leslie Sewell
Services have been scheduled for Leslie Earl Sewell, a Pioneers Home resident who died Feb. 8.
Sitka Christian Center will hold a memorial service 1:30 p.m. Feb. 16, at the Sitka Pioneers Home chapel.
Les was born on April 12, 1936, in Prattville, Ala. Right after Alaska became a state, in 1959, he and his brother Frederick went to Fairbanks, where they had a printing business, with government contracts at Ft. Wainwright and Elmendorf Air Force bases.
Les moved his wife and four children from Alabama to Fairbanks to make their home, later settling on Badger Road in North Pole.
Les was a great fly fisherman, upholsterer, gardener and woodworker, carving such pieces as walking canes from diamond willow, his family said. “He truly made his own kind of music under the Midnight Sun,”
Les joined the Sitka Pioneers Home family on March 21, 2002.
Family connections were important to Les and he kept in touch with family members by phone and mail, sharing his counsel, advice and love.
He was also very connected with his Sitka Christian Center “family” and really enjoyed going to church mid-week and Sunday.
He was an active member of the Pioneers of Alaska.
He highly respected children and never wanted to hear people calling them “kids,” which he deemed disrespectful.
Les was gracious to others and appreciative of what others did for him. He enjoyed taking trips to the White Elephant Shop, in addition to roaming the Pioneers Home in his electric wheelchair and socializing with other residents.
“His artistic creations, generous spirit, friendly smile and genteel attitude will be missed by everyone who knew him,” friends at the home said.
Les was preceded in death by his loving wife Jackie and a son, Stephen.
He is survived by his daughters, Valerie Cugini, of Denver, Colo., and Nita Armstrong of Fairbanks; son Clarence (Ellen) Sewell of Purcell, Okla.; grandchildren Steve, April, Kent, Josh, Tamara, Jackie and Kelsey; and five great-grandchildren.
Login Form
______________________
AK COVID-19
At a Glance
(updated 9-12-2023)
By Sentinel Staff
The state Department of Health and Social Services has posted the following update on the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alaska as of 8:57 a.m. Tuesday, September 12.
New cases as of Tuesday: 278
Total cases (cumulative) statewide – 301,513
Total (cumulative) deaths – 1,485
Case Rate per 100,000 – 38.14
To visit the Alaska DHSS Corona Response dashboard website click here.
COVID in Sitka
The Sitka community level is now "Low.'' Case statistics are as of Tuesday.
Case Rate/100,000 – 152.50
Cases in last 7 days – 13
Cumulative Sitka cases – 3,575
Deceased (cumulative) – 10
The local case data are from Alaska DHSS.
______________________
20 YEARS AGO
September 2003
Sitka Tribe of Alaska is “upset and disturbed” about the Senate appropriations bill that cuts spending for Alaska tribal courts, STA Vice Chairman Gil Truitt said today. He was referring to Sen. Ted Stevens’ move to divert Department of Justice grants from tribal courts and tribal police officers to fund the Village Public Safety Officer program.
50 YEARS AGO
September 1973
Photo caption: Receiving service pins at a Carpenters Union Local 466 dinner meeting at the Kiksadi Club were, from left, Arthur Littlefield, Alvin Helm, Harley Finch, Dave Gibson, Gerald Hughes, Fred Nelson, Walter Moy, Edward Nelson, William Sutton and Don Stromme.