{"id":14862,"date":"2020-10-15T16:27:05","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T16:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:36:30","slug":"marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine veteran, former interim Navajo president and New Mexico lawmaker dies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thomas Atcitty, a former interim <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2015\/06\/09\/navajo-nation-mourning-loss-of-navajo-code-talker\/\" target=_blank>Navajo Nation president<\/a> and longtime New Mexico state representative, has died. He was 86.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Atcitty died Sunday of natural causes, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/02\/03\/flags-on-navajo-nation-lowered-to-honor-deceased-code-talker\/\" target=_blank>the tribe said.<\/a> Funeral services were scheduled Wednesday in Shiprock, New Mexico, where he lived most of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Atcitty was remembered for his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/09\/03\/emotions-run-high-over-new-code-talkers-beer-can\/\" target=_blank>various leadership roles<\/a> and compassion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/08\/15\/navajo-nation-eyes-renaming-us-highway-after-late-senator-a-world-war-ii-code-talker\/\" target=_blank>for Navajo people.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Atcitty also served in the U.S. Marine Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/02\/03\/flags-on-navajo-nation-lowered-to-honor-deceased-code-talker\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"176\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20031681611105.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Flags on Navajo Nation lowered to honor deceased Code Talker<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Joe Vandever Sr. was among hundreds of Navajos who served in the Marine Corps during World War II, transmitting messages using a code based on the Navajo language.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He served as the tribe\u2019s vice president from 1995 to 1998 and was elevated to the top post after then-Navajo President Albert Hale resigned rather than face allegations he abused a tribal credit card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Atcitty\u2019s time as president was short-lived. Within months, the Navajo Nation Council removed him from office for accepting free trips and golf games from companies doing business with the tribe while he was vice president. Atcitty said accepting business gratuities didn\u2019t violate rules and argued a golf game isn\u2019t tangible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He called the council\u2019s action unfortunate and said he held no grudges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI walk away from the Navajo capital with my head high, knowing I have done nothing wrong,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">George Joe, a tribal spokesman for the Atcitty administration, said Wednesday that Atcitty got a \u201cbum deal\u201d from the council that was looking for someone to blame for the political chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey sacrificed some guy who was really nice, who wouldn\u2019t harm anybody. He wouldn\u2019t step on a fly,\u201d Joe said. \u201cThat\u2019s why he was so well-known, so well-liked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before working for the tribal government, Atcitty served seven terms as a New Mexico state representative, from 1980 to 1994. He previously oversaw Navajo Community College \u2014 now Din\u00e9 College, the first tribal college on a Native American reservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Atcitty helped establish the college\u2019s Shiprock campus and pushed for the creation of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, made up of tribal colleges and universities across the country, Joe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n of New Mexico said Atcitty \u201cworked tirelessly to improve the lives of Navajo students, invest in tribal infrastructure and give a voice to the Navajo people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Navajo leaders offered condolences to Atcitty\u2019s family. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Vicky, three children and numerous grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe ask our Creator to bless his family with strength and comfort at this time,\u201d Navajo President Jonathan Nez said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thomas Atcitty died Sunday of natural causes, the tribe said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":33976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","left-column","home","middle-column"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[101,23,92,93,12,25,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1351],"class_list":["post-14862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"WHQAF3YLI5EKDD3UNONYVEY3J4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Marine veteran, former interim Navajo president and New Mexico lawmaker dies - Marine Corps Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thomas Atcitty died Sunday of natural causes, the tribe said.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marine veteran, former interim Navajo president and New Mexico lawmaker dies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thomas Atcitty died Sunday of natural causes, the tribe said.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Marine Corps Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-15T16:27:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T20:36:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Marine veteran, former interim Navajo president and New Mexico lawmaker dies\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2020-10-15T16:27:05+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T20:36:30+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 405,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP20288672180791.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Left Column\",\n\t                \"Middle Column\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Your Marine Corps\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Marine veteran, former interim Navajo president and New Mexico lawmaker dies - Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP20288672180791.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2020-10-15T16:27:05+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T20:36:30+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Thomas Atcitty died Sunday of natural causes, the tribe said.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP20288672180791.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP20288672180791.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/15\\\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Your Marine Corps\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/your-marine-corps\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"your-marine-corps\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Marine veteran, former interim Navajo president and New Mexico lawmaker dies\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Marine Corps - Independent News For Marines | Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/marine-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/marine-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Marine Corps Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Marine veteran, former interim Navajo president and New Mexico lawmaker dies - Marine Corps Times","description":"Thomas Atcitty died Sunday of natural causes, the tribe said.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Marine veteran, former interim Navajo president and New Mexico lawmaker dies","og_description":"Thomas Atcitty died Sunday of natural causes, the tribe said.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/","og_site_name":"Marine Corps Times","article_published_time":"2020-10-15T16:27:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T20:36:30+00:00","author":"The Associated Press","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Associated Press","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Marine veteran, former interim Navajo president and New Mexico lawmaker dies","datePublished":"2020-10-15T16:27:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T20:36:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/"},"wordCount":405,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20288672180791.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Home","Left Column","Middle Column","News","Newsletters","Your Marine Corps"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/","name":"Marine veteran, former interim Navajo president and New Mexico lawmaker dies - Marine Corps Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20288672180791.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2020-10-15T16:27:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T20:36:30+00:00","description":"Thomas Atcitty died Sunday of natural causes, the tribe said.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20288672180791.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20288672180791.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/10\/15\/marine-veteran-former-interim-navajo-president-and-new-mexico-lawmaker-dies\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Your Marine Corps","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/","ad_zone":"your-marine-corps"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Marine veteran, former interim Navajo president and New Mexico lawmaker dies"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","name":"Marine Corps Times","description":"Marine Corps - Independent News For Marines | Marine Corps Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization","name":"Marine Corps Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/marine-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/marine-logo-white.png","caption":"Marine Corps Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20288672180791.jpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Marine Corps Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14862"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14874,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14862\/revisions\/14874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14862"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=14862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}