Nathan Paul Knight, better known as "Butter" to those in the Tulalip community, passed away Friday, February 26, 2009. Born February 22, 1980 in Idaho Falls, Idaho to Lucinda Jo Pacheco and Brent Leslie Knight, Nathan lived in Idaho until 1986, at which time he and the rest of his family moved back to his mother's childhood home in Tulalip, WA, of which all were members of the Tulalip Tribes (of Native Americans). He took to the tribal ancestral way of living like a fish to water. He was an avid swimmer as a child in the Tulalip Bay. He learned the ways of trapping, commercial fishing, beach seining, crabbing, hunting and wood cutting. He was a natural outdoorsman and lover of all things in nature. He had a respect for all living things as well as the natural cycle of life. Most of all was his love for his daughters, April Rose Russell and Hailey Hazel May Knight.
He is survived by his loving mate, Delores "Dee Dee" Parks; his mother, Lucinda (Pacheco) Cladoosby; his father, Brent Knight; sisters, Dushaine, Brenda, and Samantha; nieces, Vanessa, Marliah, and Elianna; nephews, Damon and Evan; great-niece, Kaimi; aunts and uncles, Charles Vasser, Robert (Lisa) Monger, Mark Monger, Anita and Randy Rodgers, Tina and Scott Pacheco, Rose and Kevin Webb.
He was preceded in death by his great-grandparents, Ernest Sr. and Lena Cladoosby; grandparents, Heigh and Magdalen "Oudy" Monger, Fred and Hazel Steuben; and niece, Melody Williams.
Viewing will be held from 1-2 p.m., Wednesday, March 4, 2009, at Schaefer-Shipman Funeral Home, 804 State Ave, Marysville. An Evening Service will be held at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, at the Tulalip Tribal Center, 6700 Totem Beach Rd, Tulalip. Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, March 5, 2009, at the Tribal Center with burial to follow at Mission Beach Cemetery.
(Published in The Herald (Everett) on Mar. 4, 2009)