Obituaries

Our beloved Mother and “Auntie” Velva Angell passed from this earth on Aug. 14, 2021 at the age of 92. She was proud of her Native American heritage as she was Wiyot, Yurok and Wintun Indian. Velva was born in Eureka, California on April 5, 1929 to her parents, Elizabeth Logan Cooper and Henry Clay Cooper. She attended and graduated from Eureka High School. Shortly after graduation, Velva moved to San Francisco to attend and graduate from California Beauty School.

Velva met and fell in love with the love of her life, Lucius “Bud” Angell III, while he was on shore leave as a sailor in San Francisco. They were married on Feb. 8, 1948, at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka. Together they raised three sons: Lucius “Bud” Angell IV (Betsy), Bruce Steven Angell and Paul Douglas Angell. They welcomed their niece, Cindy Dunlap Dutra (Dave), into their home after the death of her mother, and raised “their girl” as their own.

Velva worked for and retired from Eureka City Schools. She first worked as a noon monitor at Alice Birney Elementary School and later as a classroom aide at Jacobs Junior High School. She served for many years, with great pride, on the Board of Directors of the United Indian Health Services as the Table Bluff, Wiyot Tribal Representative.

An extremely talented seamstress, she sewed many outfits for her children. School clothes, dresses for dances, cheerleading outfits and formal wear were all sewn with love and an eye for detail. Later, her handiwork was evident in the pine needle baskets she wove, the hand stitcheries she proudly shared with others and the many crocheted caps she made for the premature babies at St. Joseph Hospital.

 Velva had four grandchildren: Elaine Angell, Eric Brunton (Taunya), Aaron Brunton (Joy) and Tabatha Leady (Matt), 11 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild.

Velva was preceded in death by her beloved husband Bud Angell, her son Bruce Angell, her brother Henry Clay Cooper, as well as her three sisters Roberta Cooper Martin, Carole Cooper Koch and Marilyn Cooper Dugan.

A special note of thanks for the many years of kind friendship and daily phone calls from her sister-in-law, Ruth Cooper, and to her niece Wanda Hansen for all the home cooked meals that she brought. Thank you also to the doctors and staff at United Indian Health Services and St. Joseph Hospital for their kindness and support.

Velva will be interred at Sunset Memorial Cemetery. Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, we are postponing a memorial until it is safe to do so. We ask that in lieu of flowers, please send any contributions to Shriners Hospital for Children of Northern California.