By Puyallup Tribal News Staff
A Puyallup Tribal Member 55 years of age and older is recognized as the Honored Elder as part of the monthly Elders Luncheon held at the House of Respect.
Puyallup Tribal Member Donald Finley was recognized as February’s Honored Elder on Feb. 20. He received a cedar hat and was blanketed by Councilwoman Monica Miller and Elders Wellness Center Executive Director Vernetta Miller.
Each Honored Elder is recorded, describing their life experiences. The following is Finley’s story in his own words.
Donald Finley
“My parents are Edith Butler and Robert Johnson. I was born at the county hospital here in Tacoma back in 1953.
“We lived in Fife, and kind of bounced in between there and California where my father grew up. Sometime around 1959 we moved out to Sumner. My mom got some money to put down on a house out there. It was about four acres, and I grew up there out in Sumner.
“Around the 60s is when we moved to Portland for three years. … We stayed there from third grade to sixth grade before we moved back up to our house. My dad was working for Boeing, and he had a cerebral hemorrhage and he passed on.
“I went to Yakima and worked in apple fields and stuff like that. Then, in Idaho I was driving potato trucks when I was 15 or 16. It was all dirt roads, so I never had to drive into the main roads.
“I used to call my auntie, Ruthy Butler, on a collect call. She wouldn’t accept it; it was just our way of letting her know, ‘Hey, I’m still alive.’ Then, she’d run off to Sumner to let my mom know, ‘Hey, your son called.’
“I came back around 1970, and my uncle, Bob, had a smoke shop down on Pioneer. He asked if I wanted a job as a night guard, so I did 10 years as a night guard. I started working with the Tribe in 1980. I was the first janitor when the hospital was still here, then transferred down to Chief Leschi Schools when it was down here, too.
“When I started working in the cemetery, I told myself, ‘I’m never leaving the Tribe again.’ And now I’ve been with the cemetery for the past 47 years. I dig the graves, cut the grass and whatever else the people need us to do.
“Working in the cemetery is not a job that a lot of people want. It’s not a job I wanted, you know, burying people. But it’s actually been a really good job, because it’s a natural part of life and someone has to do it. Everybody I grew up with is over there now — my uncles, aunts, cousins. But I’m taking care of them, and I get to keep an eye on them and say hi to them all the time.”
