John Abelard Ardenia
February 02, 1938, Angoon, Alaska — November 12, 2008, Seldovia, Alaska
Buried in Seldovia City Cemetery Plot #568
(Alaska Native) JOHN ABELARD ARDENIA, SR.. died Friday, Nov. 12, 2008, from a massive heart attack at his home at Lakeside Terrace in Seldovia. He was 70. Note: John Ardenia’s father was born in the Philippines. His mother was an Alaska Tlinget Indian.
Funeral services were held Nov. 14, at St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Seldovia. He was buried in the Seldovia Cemetery. Father Sergie Active officiated. A celebration of his life followed at Lakeside Terrace.
Mr. Ardenia was born Feb. 2, 1938, in Angoon. He attended school in Angoon. In the early 1960s, he went to live in Juneau and worked as a stone mason, fisherman and cook. In the late 1960s, he worked as a handyman in Anchorage with a friend. He turned his hand as a card dealer in a popular club and became acquainted with many people. He moved to Seldovia in 1972.
He began salmon fishing in the summer of 1974 and fished on many boats through the years. Through the mid 1970s he resumed his work as a handyman and cook and also laid cement. In the early 1980s, he began crabbing while fishing for cod and halibut and tendering in the summer. In the early 1990s, he continued to fish for cod and halibut. He then worked as a bartender at the Knight Spot Bar in Seldovia. He was a member of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“John was a Tlinget Indian and was very proud of his native heritage. He was taught about his Native way of life by his grandparents, Robert and Tilly Zouboff and his mother, Lina Ardenia Rochas. He always talked to his family and friends about his growing up years in Angoon and his time spent in Juneau,” his family said. “John was a very hard and dedicated worker in all the many jobs that he held in his life. He was an excellent cook and made the best fried bread around, which he shared with everyone. John met the love of his life, Agnes Dushkin in Anchorage in 1975, and brought her to Seldovia where she still resides. They made their home in Seldovia and raised four children. John was very generous and helpful to all. He had a quick wit, loved life, had a great knowledge of the sea, land and our earth. He loved to joke and loved his children and grandchildren very much.”
Mr. Ardenia was preceded in death by his parents, Albert Ardenia and Lina Ireen Ardenia Rochas; brothers, Albert and Sami Ardenia, mother-in-law Justina Dushkin; and granddaughter Adrianna Rose Ardenia.