July 23, 1934 - November 30, 2019
Adeline (Addie) was born a Dene on Nadleh Whut'en reserve near Fort Fraser, BC on July 23, 1934 to Joachim (Wassa) and Virginia Sutherland. She was one of 7 children; 5 boys and 2 girls. Addie's mother passed away when Addie was only 5 years old and it was left to her and her sister, Terry, to take care of her brothers and father. Thus, began a lifetime of being a caregiver of which Addie became an expert. Although she never attended school, Addie learned how to read, write and do arithmetic from her dad. She was also fluent in her Dakelh language. She became a very avid reader and enjoyed keeping up on current events. Addie was born into the Bear clan, but when her father passed away, she was given his name and adopted into the Frog clan of which her father was a part.
At the age of 24 she met and married Louis Nadon. Addie was proud of her 4 children; 2 sons Antoine (Tony) and Joseph (Rodney) and 2 daughters, Adeline and Elizabeth. They spent the first 5 years of their marriage in Burns Lake, BC and moved to Terrace, BC in 1964 where she would spend the next 54 years of her life. While Louis worked as a logger, Addie worked as a housekeeper which entailed walking about 4 miles a day with baby Elizabeth on her back. Several years later, she worked as a cashier at the Westend store and then as a short-order cook at the Co-op in Terrace, BC. It was through these positions, that Addie became friends with so many. She made friends easily and found it very interesting to meet new people and find out all she could about them. She found interest in life and was noted for her phenomenal memory even in her final years. Addie was passionate about her family (near and far) and she also loved to sew, knit, play the guitar (self-taught) and fishing. Addie also enjoyed playing cards, cribbage and skip-bo with her grandsons and friends. She enjoyed driving across the prairies to visit friends and family and always said how much she loved the big sky of the prairies. Addie dreamed of visiting the Bay of Fundy to see the highest tides, but sadly that dream was never realized. Another passion was gardening; as such Spring was her favourite time of year because that's when she could start planning her gardens. She enjoyed discussing with her neighbours what she was going to plant and found even more joy in choosing the seeds to buy. Another love she had was feeding the birds, so she made sure she could see the birdfeeders from her couch. Another joy of Addie's was watching the Canucks and comparing notes with her grandson, Jules, over the phone. It was this love that won her the opportunity to meet Ron McLean and Don Cherry the year Terrace won the Kraft Hockey challenge.
In her last few years, Addie had the privilege of participating in the creation of a Central Carrier/English dictionary along with several other elders from the Stellaquo and Nadleh reserves. She really enjoyed those days and took great pride in being able to share her knowledge and stories with them. Unfortunately, that had to stop because she had a stroke
in May 2018 and although only her speech was partially affected by the stroke, Addie was not able to drive the long distances any longer. She was 85 when she passed away.
Addie was pre-deceased by her parents Joachim and Virginia; her siblings Arthur, Alfred, Robert, Richard, Duncan and Therese (Terry); her husband, Louis; her son, Antoine; and son-in-law, Kim.
Addie will be lovingly remembered by her son, Joseph; daughters, Adeline (Steven) Ignas and Elizabeth Duerr; granddaughters Veronica and Geraldine ; grandsons Christopher and Andy; Jules (Sharon), Frazier and Shaun; 13 great-grandchildren; 2 great-great-grandchildren and numerous friends across the country.