Coquillle Chief Don Ivy.
Provided by the Coquille Indian Tribe
The chief of the Coquille Indian Tribe has died. Don Ivy had been undergoing cancer treatment for seven months before passing away at the age of 70 Monday night.
Bob Zybak, a doctoral researcher of environmental science, is among those mourning Ivy’s death. He told KLCC that Ivy was a tribal scholar and the two of them had worked on a trails project.
“I’ve known Don for about 30 years, and yes, we did put out the Coquille trails report hoping to get it into local schools at some point,” Zybak said.
“Don was just a really good guy and a great tribal leader. He loved to fish, we worked mostly on historical materials related to Coquille Tribe, and think his legacy will be the tribe’s history and his efforts to assemble that.”
Coquille tribal chair Brenda Meade called Ivy a “consistent source of wisdom and kindness” for his people.
Ivy had served as chief of the Coquille since 2014. A memorial service is planned for Saturday afternoon at the Mill Casino-Hotel in North Bend.
A special election will be held to choose his successor.