Maria Tebah Bia

Funeral Mass for Maria Tebah Bia, 89, will be 1 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 2, at Our Lady of Blessed Sacrament, Fort Defiance. The Rev. Gilbert Schneider will officiate. Burial will be in Fort Defiance. Bia died Nov. 27, 2009, in Fort Defiance. She was born March 4, 1920, in Chambers, into the Near the Water People Clan for the Water's Edge People Clan. Maria went to school at St. Michaels Indian School, Fort Defiance Indian School and Riverside Intermountain Indian School. She worked as a seamstress, nanny, program supervisor for Indian Development District of Arizona, National Council on Aging. She was also a homemaker, mother and grandmother. Survivors include her son, Vern Bia; daughter, Miranda Blatchford; brother, Joseph Metteba; 10 grandchildren. Bia was preceded in death by her husband, Arthur Bia; parents, Billy Tabaha, Margaret Whitehorse; sisters, Colleta Tabaha, Anita Wauneka, Jenny Wauneka, Myra Teba; brothers, Johnnie Tapaha, Sammie Teba, Bennie Teba. Pallbearers will be Samuel Blatchford, Nathaniel Bia, Caleb Bia, other family members. The family will meet at Fort Defiance Chapter House, following services. Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements