S moke S ignals
july 1, 2014
Elder Bingo moved
Elder Bingo will be held at 12:30 p.m. the second and fourth Satur-
day of the month at the Elders’ Activity Center. For more information,
contact Elder Activity Assistant Daniel Ham at 503-879-2233. n
Walking On...
Allen A. “Biff” Langley Sr.
July 16, 1925 – April 2, 2014
Tribal Elder Biff Langley, 88, passed
away peacefully at home on April 2, 2014.
He was the last of the children of Elsie
McKay Sulkey-Langley and Allen “Jack”
Langley, who died, respectively, in 1929
and 1936. His brothers and sisters were
Cleo Sulkey-Gleason, Peter Vernon Sulkey,
Roy Langley and William Joseph Lang-
ley.
Biff was born at Grand Ronde on July 16,
1925, and lived there until he joined the
U.S. Navy in 1943 during World War II. He
married Louise A. Smith in 1946 and they
were married for 54 years at the time of her
death in 2000. They had eight children, two
of whom preceded him in death.
We always remember our dad as a hard-
working soul. As soon as he got out of the
service, he married the love of his life and
moved to Grand Ronde, where they lived for
a couple of years. He worked at Murphy’s
Mill. They moved to Warm Springs, Ore.,
where he also worked for local logging com-
panies, both in the woods and at the Dahl Pine Mill.
When Termination time came, he chose the relocation option
and attended diesel mechanics school in Denver, Colo. He did not
participate in the job placement part of this program because there
were no jobs available in areas where he wanted to live. The fam-
ily moved back to Warm Springs and he continued his work in the
woods until he was injured and then was offered an inspector job
at Warm Springs Forest Products Industries, where he worked the
rest of his time until retirement.
In retirement, he and mother lived a quiet and traditional life.
Every spring they were out in the root fields digging roots, then on
to the huckleberry fields in the later summer/fall where they camped
for several weeks at a time gathering huckleberries. They always
had a freezer full of roots, huckleberries, fish and deer meat.
Each year they made their annual trek to Grand Ronde for Me-
morial Day to take care of his old people in the cemetery, and they
also attended the famous Mercier family reunion annually. Dad was
active in attending events in Grand Ronde leading up to Restora-
tion. He was good friends with those who were involved in bringing
Restoration about and was one of a handful of people who made a
monthly contribution to this effort. He used to also supply the salmon
to the annual powwow, which was a lot smaller than it is today.
He leaves six children, Maxine Clements, Larry Langley, Marita
Johnson, Cinda Lou Bobb, Lori Fuentes and Noree Kalama. There
are no less than 35 grandchildren, including six great-great-grand-
children. His regular caretakers were his grandson, Ron Clements,
and granddaughter, Rittni Clements, to whom the family has a great
debt of gratitude for the loving care they gave him.
15
Election day
is Sept.
NOMINATIONS continued
from front page
nated Sherer, a Tribal Council
incumbent who is wrapping up
12 years of combined service on
Tribal Council. She is seeking her
fifth three-year term.
• Tribal Elder Evelyn Seidel nomi-
nated Brenda Tuomi, who serves
on the Tribal Education Commit-
tee and previously worked in the
Eugene Satellite Office.
• Tribal Elder Margaret Provost
nominated Ann Lewis, who previ-
ously worked for the Tribe in the
Lands and Economic Develop-
ment departments.
• Tribal Council member Denise
Harvey nominated Chris Mercier,
who served three consecutive
terms on Tribal Council from
2004 to 2013. He did not seek
re-election in 2013 to attend law
school at Michigan State Univer-
sity.
• Tribal Elder Val Grout nomi-
nated Tonya Gleason-Shepek,
who serves on the Tribe’s Social
Services Committee.
• Tribal Elder Marcella Selwyn
nominated Corey Meneley, who
has worked in several Tribal
departments and at the Table
Games section of Spirit Mountain
Casino.
• And Tribal Elder Jackie Many
Hides nominated Kevin Sim-
mons, who currently works for
the Tribe as Adult Education and
College Advising coordinator.
Ballots will be mailed to voters
with verified signatures on Wednes-
day, July 23. Tribal members may
create a verified signature card at
any time up to and including Elec-
tion Day.
Starting Monday, July 21, through
Election Day, the Election Office
in the Community Center will be
open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a
half-hour lunch from noon to 12:30
p.m. Monday through Thursday.
The office can be reached at 503-
879-2271.
Candidate statements are due
in the Publications office by 5 p.m.
Wednesday, July 9, and will be fea-
tured in the next issue of Tilixam
Wawa, slated to be mailed out the
following week.
Candidates are limited to 600-
word statements and candidates
are encouraged to submit their
statements via e-mail to news@
grandronde.org or on a compact
disc. Hand-written statements are
discouraged to avoid transcription
errors and late statements will not
be accepted for any reason.
Candidate statements run “as is,”
meaning the Tribe’s Publications
staff will not edit the submissions
in any way other than to ensure
they do not exceed 600 words in
length.
Candidates also should contact
Tribal photographer Michelle
Alaimo at 503-879-1961 or michelle.
alaimo@grandronde.org to schedule
a time to have their portrait taken
for Tilixam Wawa, or candidates
can submit their own photo.
Ballots will be counted at the
Community Center on Saturday,
Sept. 6, and election results posted
that evening on the Community
Center’s front doors. n
Kerrie K. Jones
Sept. 23, 1975 – June 9, 2014
Kerrie K. Jones, 38, of Dallas walked on on Monday, June 9.
Kerrie was born in Lincoln City, but was raised in Dallas. She
graduated from Dallas High School in 1993.
She worked for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde as a
pharmacy technician and a dental receptionist. She was a member
of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Kerrie had many medical issues in her young life, but never
complained and always showed her beautiful smile and positive
attitude. She loved watching the Atlanta Braves on television with
her mom and dad. She had the chance to go to Atlanta two years
ago to watch them live and in person. She also loved the Oakland
Raiders, but the rumor was that her brother and father made her
be a fan of the team.
A funeral Mass was held Thursday, June 12, at St. Philip Catholic
Church in Dallas. Interment followed at Dallas Cemetery.
Contributions are suggested to the Humane Society in care of
Dallas Mortuary Tribute Center, which handled arrangements.
To send an online condolence, visit www.dallastribute.com.
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