Frances Louise Petterson, nee Hume, Kanáni (1940 – 2024)
Fran Petterson was born at Neskataheen to parents Dave and Hazel Hume and was very proud of her Scottish, Tlingit and Southern Tutchone heritage. Fran grew up at Dalton Post and then went to the Baptist Mission School in Whitehorse, the little Quonset Hut school in Haines Junction, the high school in Whitehorse, and then achieved her certification in Business Administration.1)
Fran moved to Fort Nelson, British Columbia in 1958 and then met Dale Petterson in Faost, Alberta. Dale’s father was a commercial fisherman and Dale and Fran worked with him in the winter months, fishing on Lesser Slave Lake, and in the summer they fished at Prince Rupert. They settled at Antler Lake, Alberta and were married in 1968 at Invermere, British Columbia. When they moved to the Yukon, Fran started work with the Champagne and Aishihik Indian Band, before land claims, and Dale worked for CA Enterprises building houses. They spent their first two years living at Klukshu.2)
Fran and Dale purchased the Gateway Pub in Haines Junction and rebuilt the business as the Alcan Motor Inn. They sponsored and supported many local activities and Fran looked forward to the curling bonspiels. Family was everything, and her son Clint recalled that the grandkids would choose gopher over a steak.3)