Primary Name: Heltness, Katherine “Kitty”
Filed as: heltness_katherine
Also known as: Kitty Heltness; Katherine Heltness; Katherine Jahncke; Katherine Hooker
Occupation / Association: Charter Member, Juneau Women’s Igloo No. 6; President, Juneau Women’s Igloo (1928, 1929); Telephone company employee; Coffee shop proprietor
Born: 1868, Germany
Died: February 28, 1951, Everett, Washington
Parents:
Spouse: William H. Jahncke (m. August 31, 1889; div. 1891); Charles E. Hooker (m. June 15, 1892; div.)
Children: Mildred Drewitt Hooker (adopted June 18, 1913)
Associated places: Germany; Seattle, Washington; Juneau, Alaska; Everett, Washington
Keywords: Katherine Kitty Heltness, Kitty Heltness, Katherine Heltness, Katherine Jahncke, Katherine Hooker, Charles E Hooker, Mildred Drewitt Hooker, Juneau Women’s Igloo President 1928, Juneau Women’s Igloo President 1929
Biography
Katherine “Kitty” Heltness was a charter member of the Juneau Women’s Igloo and served as its President in 1928 and 1929. Her daughter, Mildred, was also a charter member.
She was born in Germany in 1868 and moved to the United States around 1888. In Seattle, she worked for the Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Company.
While living in Seattle, she met William H. Jahncke, and the two were married on August 31, 1889. The marriage ended in divorce on March 6, 1891.
On June 15, 1892, Katherine married Charles E. Hooker, who at the time was working as a prescription clerk. By 1902, he had become a traveling salesman for Kreilsheimer Brothers, a whiskey distributor based in Seattle. Through this work, he became acquainted with Jules Caro, a Juneau resident who was then living in Seattle and working for the company.
Charles and Katherine moved to Juneau in 1910. On June 18, 1913, they adopted a young girl named Mildred Drewitt, who had been born in Canada. Her mother was unable to care for her, and the child was about to be placed in an orphanage in Whitehorse.
A few years later, Katherine and Charles separated, and Katherine and Mildred moved to Seattle. In the fall of 1915, she went to the courthouse to file for a divorce from Charles and discovered that her earlier divorce from William Jahncke had never been finalized. A judge finalized the first divorce, allowing her to proceed with the divorce from Charles.
The July 18, 1916, edition of the Daily Alaska Dispatch reported that Katherine had just returned to Juneau from an extended trip. It is likely that she had traveled there to deliver divorce papers to Charles before returning to Seattle.
She and Mildred eventually returned to Juneau, where Katherine operated a coffee shop.
Katherine later moved to Everett, Washington, sometime after 1940. She died there on February 28, 1951.
Sources
Daily Alaska Dispatch, July 18, 1916; Pioneers of Alaska Women’s Igloo records; census and family records
Tags: Katherine Kitty Heltness, Kitty Heltness, Katherine Jahncke, Katherine Hooker, Charles E Hooker, Mildred Drewitt Hooker, Juneau Women’s Igloo President 1928, Juneau Women’s Igloo President 1929