April 29, 1947 – March 23, 2026
Jeanette “Ann” Walkingstick, of Cherokee, peacefully departed from this world on Monday, March 23, 2026.
Ann was the daughter of the late Ramsey Walkingstick and Mabel Teesateskie Walkingstick. She grew up in the Yellowhill Community as the second oldest of nine children and spoke only Cherokee at home. She lived in Georgia for many years, working in downtown Atlanta for a while before returning to Cherokee in 2004. There, she became one of the first Cherokee Language Speakers at New Kituwah Academy when it opened, serving as a dedicated teacher for 10 years. She began teaching her first child at 6-months-old and worked with children of all ages until her retirement in August 2009.
She returned to work from August 2010 to 2014, then worked on a contract from 2015 to 2020, and made a brief comeback in 2022 until her health no longer permitted it. Ann loved sewing and was an excellent seamstress, creating several traditional Cherokee garments and pow wow regalia over the years. She enjoyed making all kinds of crafts, trying her hand at making honeysuckle, pine needle, and gourd baskets, beading, and cornhusk dolls. She was always busy working on something and inspired all her children in some way to be crafty. Ann had a green thumb and loved being outside, soaking up the sun, and tending to her flowers. On her best days, she could often be found in the kitchen, enjoying cooking for any occasion. Ann loved making people laugh and always had a good story up her sleeve, rarely meeting a stranger.
In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her brother, Chief Dean Walkingstick; her sisters, Geneva Faye Walkingstick, Angela Tindall Morris, and Nancy Lois Lambert; and her son, Delano Ray Lett.
Ann leaves behind four children, Laura Ann Walkingstick, Anthony Curren Lett (Lisianna Jones-Cloud), Hollie Marie Stover, and Mark Hollis Stover Jr. She also leaves four grandchildren, Ashley Marie Sena (Anthony), Brooke Ann Moore, Alexander Stephen Lett, and Sandra Ollie Ann Taylor. Additionally, she is survived by four brothers, Moses Walkingstick, Owen Walkingstick, Bruce Moses, and Tony Moses. She is also remembered by several nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews, along with many other family members and friends within the community, as well as members of the New Kituwah Academy and Kituwah Preservation & Education Program.
The family invites the community to a potluck celebration of life on Saturday, April 4 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the old Yellowhill Community Building at 918 Acquoni Rd. in Cherokee, N.C.