This is Leonard Young, a member of Sitka's Tlingit tribe and a deacon at St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral. Turns out I'm related to him.
Let me back up. My grandparents on my mother's side lived in Sitka many years ago. My grandfather was even the acting mayor of Sitka for a time. He also had a hand in the construction of the current Russian Orthodox Cathedral (the original burned down in 1966). I was never really sure what part he played though.
So while I was in Sitka last week, Diane and Renee from the Crossroads Sitka workshop group and I stopped by the church to take a look inside and to possibly find out exactly what the connection was between my grandfather and the church.
I spoke with the lady taking donations at the front door and told her my story. She said I should talk to her husband, who knew everybody. She pointed him out as the man in the wheelchair.
Since this man was busy participating in a service at the time, we filled the time by photographing what we could of the church. Then the service ended and I had my chance to talk with the man. I explained that my grandfather had lived in Sitka and that family lore said that he had something to do with building the church. The man asked who my grandfather was and I told him: Kenneth Marvin.
I barely got the words out. "Oh, Kenny," the man said. "Of course I knew him. His father was related to my father. He designed and built the cupola, the dome above us."
I then told him my name and that's how I met Leonard Young.
Wow. So not only did he know my grandfather, he was related to him. And so, was related to me.
We had a nice long talk and he told us a very, very long story about his life and how he came to the church. Along the way I found out that I'm an Eagle-Bear. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the Tlingit word is. I'll just have to go back and ask him again.
We also got to meet his adorable granddaughter. She really liked Diane.
She seemed rather indifferent to me. And I'm family!
Please sign me up for your blog. Note: this is a change of address for me.
Thanks,
Robin
Hi Robin,
You can subscribe to blog postings by filling out the form at the top of the sidebar. If you need to update your Newsletter subscription, you can do that here:
Newsletters page
Well, I guess he’s also related to me – your grandfather Kenneth is my grandfather Robert Gail Marvin’s brother. Would love to hear about this part of the tree!