Mary Chikoyak

Aug. 12, 1942 – Dec. 4, 2021

Mary “Aassten” (Menegak) Chikoyak, 79, passed away Saturday, December 4, 2021, at the Alaska Native Medical Center. On Friday, December 10, 2021, her funeral service was held at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in Kenai.

Mary was born on August 12, 1942, near Tununk, a small village on Nelson Island in western Alaska. She grew up in Tununk with her big sister Rita and brother Alphonse. When Mary grew up, it was common to separate the boy and girls, but she and her childhood sweetheart, Joseph Chikoyak, found ways to sneak off together. Joseph’s young brother, Louie, was used as a messenger and lookout.

On October 8, 1966, the happy couple married and started their lives together. They had five sons and celebrated fifty-one years of marriage before the Lord called Joseph home in 2017.

Mary was a very loving mother with a big heart. Everyone who crossed her path (even briefly) left a special spot in her heart. Because of this gift, she became quite the family tree encyclopedia, ever reminding us of so and so’s birthday and/or any special occasion linked to any friend or relative. For those in need, she always had an extra prayer.

Another thing she loved doing was passing on traditions, especially as a “native food” connoisseur; she’d tell you if you made a food right. If not, she’d still eat it anyway, adding her unique twist, like boiling the dried fish, if we over-dried it. She always was craving native food and could not get enough of it.

Mary loved all her grandchildren, but it was no holds barred when it came to Nintendo; her grandchildren became dust in her Mario trail. During these special times, she was known as Dr. Mario.

Mary attended the Catholic Church in Tununak and Bethel and the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel and Kenai.

Mary is survived by her sons: Ira (Jennifer) Chikoyak, Joseph Chikoyak Jr., and George (Lori) Chikoyak; Sisters-in-law, Cecilia Aluska and Mariah Butcher; Brother-in-law Louie Chikoyak; grandchildren, Robert (Heather) Sholmer, Kaitlyn (Kevin) Cruz, Sean Pope, Daisy Chikoyak, Christian Chikoyak, Ciara Chikoyak, and Selena Chikoyak; and great-grandchildren, Alison Blossom, Madison and Lincoln Shomer, and Aria Chikoyak-Kihlstadius.

She is preceded in death by her parents: sons, Ira Charlie Chikoyak, Patrick Alexie Chikoyak; siblings, Rita Blumenstein and Alphonse Menegak, and grandson Thomas Chikoyak.