Frances Cera Longley

Lifelong Alaskan Frances Cera Longley, 95, died Jan. 18, 2007, at home in Anchorage.
Services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Holy Family Cathedral; a reception will be afterward. Services in Nome will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at Old St. Joseph's Catholic Church. A potluck will be held afterward.
Frances was born in Nome to Emma (Ahmeek) Toonuk of Wales and Antone Nicholas Lee, a Portuguese whaler.
Frances survived the flu epidemic of 1918, but lost her mother and siblings. She was sent to Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Ore., where she spent the next 10 years. Returning to Nome as a high school senior, she became the first Alaska Native to graduate as salutatorian from Nome Public School in 1930 during an era of school segregation.
Widowed early in life, Frances worked for 26 years as the manager of Cavota's Family Store in Nome while raising her eight children.
Frances was always a champion for her people, her family wrote. She was a community activist and served as secretary of the Arctic Native Brotherhood and treasurer of Norton Sound Health Corp., was a shareholder in Bering Straits Native Corp. and Sitnasuak, was a staunch member of the Nome Democratic Party, and spent time in Juneau as a member of the Alaska State Board of Public Welfare. She also devoted a great deal of time to the Miss Arctic Native Brotherhood pageant.
Her family wrote: "Frances' Native name, 'Apathlook,' was given to her by elders and was the name of 'a strong, young man.' People wondered why this beautiful young girl was given this name. It became clear when she found herself the only survivor of her family and was responsible to carry on the family name. This name gave her strength to survive in times of great hardship and to rise above life's challenges.
"Frances was proud to be Inupiaq and instilled these values in her children. Although raised in a boarding school like many Native children of that time, Frances never forgot her people, her culture or her traditional ways of life. She taught her children to always think the best of everyone, to share whatever they had and to serve their communities. Frances believed her children were her finest legacy and she was proud of their many achievements. She was a strict believer in education and taught her children the values of Inupiaq culture as well as opening the window to the broader world through her travels and stories. She will be forever loved, honored and remembered."
Frances is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, Gary and Karen Longley, Nick and Kim Longley and Ted and Donna Cavota; son, Henry Longley; daughter and son-in-law, Patricia Cochran and Cole Fleischli; daughters, Frances Butzke and Dr. M. J. Longley; 20 grandchildren; 55 great-grandchildren; and four great-great-grandchildren.
Granddaughters Jeanne Sipes and Rose Madden provided much love and comfort during Frances' later years, as did Ali Schalib, her special caregiver.
Frances was preceded in death by a daughter, Joan Crew, and grandsons, David Longley and Rodney Crew.
The family is setting up a scholarship fund to honor their mother and her commitment to education and health care. Donations may be made to the Frances C. Longley Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Patricia Cochran, P.O. Box 242792, Anchorage 99524.