The oldest Selawik resident celebrates his 98th birthday

When Tillie Ticket asked her father about his age, he simply said, “Too old now.”

The oldest Selawik resident Johnnie Ticket Sr. turned 98 on July 4.

Born in Kobuk in 1925 to the late Herman Ticket and Martha Kiana, he made his home in Selawik in 1953 when he married Marjorie Downey. Since then, they raised 11 children together and saw the world transform.

“Johnnie has seen a lot of changes in his lifetime, growing up without electricity, telephone or cellphones, television, running water, sewer and internet,” Tillie Ticket said. “He said he remembers one phone in our village at the community building ... and people used to write letters instead, too. ... Nowadays, everyone is on to their cellphones.”

Johnnie Ticket grew up subsisting and fishing and took his children out to pick berries and greens from the land, always making sure the family had food on the table and wood to stay warm, Tillie Ticket said. Carpentry, fire fighting and fish processing were just a few of the jobs he has held.

“Although dad went only up to the fourth grade, he always encouraged kids to finish school and work to support yourself and your families,” she said.

During World War II, Johnnie Ticket was part of the Alaska Territorial Guard, a military reserve force in the US Army, formed in response to attacks on United States soil in Hawaii and the occupation of parts of Alaska by Japan. Tillie Ticket said her father doesn’t speak much about his service when the family asks him about it.

Later in life, in 2015, he met President Barack Obama in Kotzebue, and in 2017 traveled to Washington, D.C., to visit the veteran memorial monuments.

“The most beautiful part was at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier when they rotated guards,” Tillie Ticket said. “That’s where we watched them change soldier watch too.”

The biggest challenge of his life was when he lost his youngest son to suicide and then when he lost his wife to lung cancer, Tillie Ticket said.

“We all had to come together to support each other and take care of Dad after Mom passed,” she said. “Today, we still take care of him as his health and vision that come with age have come upon him.”

On his 97th birthday, Johnnie Ticket Sr. celebrated having a party at his granddaughter’s home in Palmer. It became an annual tradition so the family was reunited this year as well.

But during the rest of the year, Johnnie Ticket loves staying in his hometown. In Selawik, he lives in the house he built together with his wife and he is surrounded by his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Tillie Ticket said.

At family gatherings or alone, Jonnie Ticket’s favorite thing to do is watch basketball games — especially Boston Celtics and the high school teams playing.

When he watches the local games in person in Selawik, other villages or Anchorage, the players always make it a point to go and shake his hand as they are introduced for their game. He is known as an avid basketball fan and became “Taata Wolf,” Tillie Ticket said.

“When he was 90 years old, there was a tournament in Noorvik and the airlines don’t route that way at times, so he looked at me and said, ‘You take me with snogo,’” Tillie Ticket said. “So we packed him up in the sled and off we went to the Noorvik Elders Invitational Tournament to watch high school basketball.”

For Tillie Ticket, making sure Johnnie Ticket can attend the games and taking care of him means following what her father has taught her.

“Our big family learned a lot from my dad,” she said, “hunting, fishing, traveling using safety first and always being humble and kind to others and helping others when they need it.”