Alfrieda Watt

Advocate For Children, Champion Of Families

Ms. Afrieda M. Watt, age 76, of 44 Seneca Street, Apartment 35, Salamanca, New York died early Wednesday morning, May 27, 2009 at Bertrand Chaffee Hospital in Springville, New York following a short illness.

Born on May 21, 1933 in Gowanda, New York she was the daughter of the late Harry and Helen Mohawk Watt.

Ms. Watt began her educational journey at the University of Minnesota where she earned an Associate of Arts Degree. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology from Iowa State University, her Master of Science Degree in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and she received her Diesel Truck Driving Certificate from Universal Technical Institute in Omaha, Nebraska .

She was employed in the social service field providing guidance to many families. She was employed at Global Village South in Randolph, New York; Child and Family Services at the Seneca Nation of Indians; Child and Family Services in Buffalo, New York; Social Services/Indian Child Welfare Program with the Kickapoo Tribe In Kansas; Assistant Project Director of Health Service Information Systems for the United Indians of Nebraska in Omaha, Nebraska; served as the Director of the American Indian & Chicano Health Clinic in Omaha, Nebraska; she taught early Childhood Education for the United Tribes Employment & Training Center in Bismarck, North Dakota; she worked for Model Cities in Minneapolis, Minnesota; she was employed as a Secretary for the Region VII American Indian Council in Kansas City, Missouri; and she worked at Project Head Start in Black River Falls, Wisconsin.

Ms. Watt was an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians, the Wolf Clan, the Coldspring Longhouse, the Arbor Day Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, a charter member of the National Museum of American Indians, Audubon Society, Roger Tory. Peterson Institute, Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, and the Erie Zoo. She volunteered at the Circle F Club, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, did voluntary community work in the Minneapolis Public School System, and served as a board member for the Twin Cities Opportunity Industrial Center. She enjoyed a wide range of music, reading, spending time with her family, and traveling. She had travelled to China, New Zealand, Australia, Galapagos Islands, Equador, as well as frequently traveling around the United States and Canada.

Surviving are: a daughter, Dianna Beaver, Steamburg, New York; a son, Daryl Ware, Minneapolis, Minnesota; a sister, Brenda Galitz, Council Bluffs, Iowa; a brother, Kenneth Watts, Jimersontown, New York; several nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by a son, Duane C. Beaver, 2 husbands, Herman Beaver and Ralph Ware Jr..

Friends may call at the Coldspring Longhouse, Steamburg, New York this evening and all day Saturday. Longhouse funeral services will be conducted on Sunday morning at 10:00 A.M.

Burial will be in Hillside Haven Cemetery, Steamburg, New York.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the O’Rourke & O’Rourke Inc. Funeral Home, 25 River Street, Salamanca, New York.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorials to the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Audubon Society, or any other organization she belonged to.

E-condolences can be sent to john@orourke-orourke.com.