A funeral service for Norma D. Silook -- the mother of artist Susie Silook -- will be held at 3 p.m. today at Evergreen Memorial Chapel in Anchorage. Silook, 77, died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer, her daughter said.

Norma grew up on St. Lawrence Island, orphaned after her mother's death. "Her parents met when (my grandmother) was running away from an Indian boarding school in Oregon," Susie said.

She described Norma as feisty and self-sufficient. Hard-working and fun-loving. She sewed until the end.

"Her wood stove was always on and everyone was always there to come and eat Native food. She was the center of family activity," Susie said.

Roger Saavla Silook -- Norma's husband and Susie's father -- died in 2004. He was the former mayor of Gambell, president of the Native Village of Gambell and the first chairman of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission.

Norma had worked as a cook for the Bering Strait School District. Roger worked as a postal clerk and in maintenance for the Federal Aviation Administration, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Maynard McDougal Memorial Hospital. Both were artists who lived a rich subsistence lifestyle, Susie said.

The couple had eight children and adopted two grandchildren, she said. "She lived a good, long life with many grand, great and great-great grandchildren left behind to miss her."