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

Friends and family in Klukwan are mourning the loss of Anna Stevens, 45. She died May 12 at the Alaska Native Health Center in Anchorage following a brief illness. There was a small gathering in her honor in the village a few days later.

Anna and her twin sister Lisa were born April 15, 1975 in Sitka to Genevieve and Jimbo Stevens. She grew up in the village with her sister and younger brothers Henry and Andre. Henry said she took good care of him, and "always had everybody's back, no matter what." Stevens attended Klukwan School and graduated from Mount Edgecumbe High School in Sitka in 1993. She returned to Klukwan and worked as a social worker. "She always wanted to help people," her daughter Kaitlyn said.

Teresa Hura taught Stevens at the Klukwan School and said she'll miss her. "Anna was just a delight. She was the sweetest little girl. She was always kind to her classmates, was a good student, and I loved watching her grow up, and later as a mother to Kaitlyn," she said.

Stevens helped care for her father in his last years. In 2014 she moved to Juneau for a few years to be near her daughter. "She loved walking outside and taking our dog Cinnamon for rides in the car," Kaitlyn said.

She leaves her daughter Kaitlyn Stevens of Douglas, her mother Genevieve, and siblings Andre, Lisa, and Henry of Klukwan, and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

Cards may be sent to Kaitlyn Stevens at 5730 N. Douglas Highway, Apartment C, Juneau, AK, 99801.