Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Laura Fawcett, whose Tlingit name was Ee-tu-see-yi, died at home in Haines on March 7 of undetermined causes. An autopsy is pending.

Fawcett, 62, was a Wooshkeetaan of the Tóos' Déx'i Hít, or Shark Backbone House.

"Laura always had a hug and a smile for me," friend Viva Landry said. "She was a sweet and generous person who will be missed."

Laura Louise Fawcett was born at Mount Edgecumbe Hospital on Aug. 26, 1955, to Lila (Gray) and John Fawcett of Hoonah. Her mother was a nurse's assistant and her father was a pianist who named her after "Laura," a song Frank Sinatra performed.

"Music was always important to her," sister Kathleen Willard said. The first 45 rpm record she played on a record player of her own was Elvis Presley's "It's Now or Never." She loved listening to Heart, Sly and the Family Stone, The Pointer Sisters, Santana, and Led Zeppelin. "At full volume, 'if you don't mind'," Willard said.

Fawcett grew up in Juneau, and along with Willard, spent years in state foster care.

"It was horrendous," Willard said. "Laura protected me from the unspeakable. She was my hero. I would not have endured it if it weren't for her." Willard credits her sister with her own sobriety and said it may have come at the cost of Fawcett's.

"She suffered from historical trauma, the years in foster care, and the shooting death of our brother in Juneau in 1977. It was too much sadness for her to bear sometimes," Willard said.

In 1975, Fawcett and Leo Jacobs had a son, Leo "Rascal" Fawcett. "She loved Rascal with all her heart," Willard said. They moved to Haines in 1982. She worked at the Captain's Choice Motel as a housekeeper until she was injured in a fall.

Cheryl Katzeek managed the motel. "Laura was friendly, hardworking, and really good with people. She always had something nice to say," she said.

Fawcett was a member of Northern Light United Church in Juneau, and a shareholder of Sealaska, Gold Belt, and Huna Totem corporations.

"Our sweet Laura loved her family," her sister said. She also doted on cats, had "her own sense of style from the 1970s," and liked half-thawed popsicles, frozen raspberries, and potato chips.

"We would talk for hours on the phone. I had hoped to have her come down to Juneau for a pajama party, so we could watch movies and eat popcorn and have a fun family night soon," Willard said.

There will be a memorial service Saturday, March 17 at 3 p.m. at the Glacier Valley Church in Juneau.

Laura is survived by her son Leo "Rascal" Fawcett (Marion) and grandchildren Graysen and Arianna Fawcett; sister Kathleen "Kat" Willard; niece Natasha Phillips and her daughter, Jaylynn Martin; nephew Jeremy Willard, (Helen) and his children Barry "Bear-Bear" Willard and Mallory and Jayvin Willard-Flanery.

She is preceded in death by her parents, and her maternal grandparents Howard and Jessie Gray, and paternal grandparents Lily "Tootsie" and John Fawcett Sr. of Hoonah; brother John Fawcett III; infant sister Sheila Estelle Fawcett; infant niece Laura Lila Willard, as well as aunts Harriet Roberts, Agnes Lindoff, and Irene Austin, and uncles Eugene Fawcett, Gerald Gray, and Howard Gray.

Cards may be mailed to Kathleen Willard and Natasha Phillips at PO Box 34202, Juneau AK 99803.