Della Rose "thalolitsa" Hill

Della Rose (Price) Hill "thalolitsa"

Della Rose (Price) Hill, thalolitsa, Tulalip Tribal Member, born on January 28, 1937, in Tulalip, WA went to be with the Lord on March 9, 2009 at the UW Medical Center, Seattle, WA, surrounded by her loving family. Della was blessed with a large family including 10 children (three deceased), 37 grandchildren (one deceased), 85 great-grandchildren, and 30 great-great-grandchildren (three deceased).
She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Hill Sr.; her parents, Bill and Elsie Price; her sons, Baby Pablo and Theodore "Teddy" B. Hill; and her daughters, Ella "Puggy" M. Hill Jones and June Ione Pablo.
She is survived by her children, Dennis Hill, Linda J. Hill, Kathleen F. Williams (Bernie), Sheryl L. Fryberg (Raymond), Verna M. Hill (Mike Voss), Candace D. Hill Wells (Lew), and Charles H. Hill III (Sue). Della also leaves her sisters, Leota Pablo, Cora Jean Sanders and Sheila Price; her brothers, Raymond Price and Gary Price; and her special sister-in-law, Vera Zackuse. She also leaves numerous nieces and nephews, as well as her other children, "The Fryberg Boy's", Dale Jones and Alpheus Jones.
Della met the love of her life, Chuck Hill, in 1956. They came together with six children and added four more to their family. Chuck owned his own logging company and Della immediately found herself cooking and providing for the needs of the crew both day and night. Logging, shake boarding, and fishing were a way of life for the both of them and a means to providing for their family. Della, from an early age, had a passion to serve her family and her people. She provided for not only their daily needs, but also their cultural and spiritual needs with God's help. Throughout her life, she was a mentor as she volunteered, helped, and cooked at numerous community gatherings and events, teaching by example. She also started the Veterans Program and Food Bank for Tulalip Tribes.
Della worked and was still employed with the Tulalip Tribes for over 40 years. Chuck and Della worked maintenance on a part time basis for the Tulalip Tribes, which started Della's work life. She began working full-time in the Head Start Program. That is where she started adding (adopted) grandchildren into her life. From there, she became an outreach worker for the Tulalip Alcohol Program. During her time as an outreach worker, she became trained as a chemical dependency counselor. She received training as the coordinator and then manager during her tenure as a C.D. counselor. Della was the manager of Tulalip Family Services for many years, it was in this social service area that she found her greatest passion, having seen, lived, experienced, and healed from the causes. As she became closer to her retirement years, she became the Spiritual Advocate of the community. Through all of these roles that she played in the community, she shared her love with everyone that she came in contact with. One of the things that Della always said was that she looked beyond the faults and saw the need of each person that she came in contact with.
Della was a member of the Tulalip Canoe Family. She traveled extensively on the Tribal Journey trail since 1989 making numerous friends and then becoming Grandma or Auntie to all she met. Della was our Tulalip Canoe Family Grandma and Elder. Della sang on The Eagle Warrior Drum and that trail brought her from Canada to California to Montana. She has many friends and family on every trail that she made.
Della completed her spiritual path two years ago by receiving her song that was placed on her by her Grandpa when she was a little girl. Her song was her strength in her final years and days.
Della had so many special friends throughout her life it would be impossible to remember them all but a few to mention were Jane Middelton Moz, Rita Achlmeyer, Robert Lester, June Lamar, and Anna Latimer-Hansen. Some important people to Della and the family are her complementary medicine people that helped her to maintain good health for many years. They are Sonia Gobin, Becky Ochs, Litonya Egawa, Kari Baggarley, Jacob Griffis, and Natalia Knapp. Her Special Caregivers that helped us through her last days were Sabrina Fryberg, Teddi Barto, Shirley Jones, and Natalia Knapp.
We would like to especially thank Dr. Catherine Curran, Dawn Young, The UW Ophthalmology Department, The UW Medical Nurses and team, and Margaret Goodman at the Tulalip Pharmacy.
The most important message that she wanted to leave with her family and the community is she wanted us all to have a close relationship with God. Everything that she did in her life was for the glory of God.
Viewing will be held from 2:30 to 4 p.m., Thursday, March 12, 2009, at Schaefer-Shipman Funeral Home, 804 State Ave., Marysville. An Interfaith Service will be held at 6 p.m., Thursday, at the Tulalip Tribal Center, 6700 Totem Beach RD, Tulalip. Funeral services will be held at 9 a.m., Friday, March 13, 2009, at the tribal center with burial to follow at Mission Beach Cemetery.