San Carlos, Ariz. – Majel Patten, matriarch of her clan and believed to have been the last living Apache to have known Geronimo, died Dec. 12. She was 111.

Patten, of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, rejected most modern medicines, many processed foods and modern conveniences such as television, electric refrigerators and heating devices.

On Feb. 18, 1988, her staunch support of traditional ways prompted the Tribal Council to name her "Mother of the Apache Nation".

Even as her health began to fail around 1990, she rejected the modern housing projects in areas around the San Carlos reservation, located 95 miles northeast of Phoenix.

As a teen-ager, Patten said she had gotten to know Geronimo the 19^th and 20^th century Chiricahua Apache leader who fought the imposition of Anglo culture. Patten told relatives how she admired the inner strength of Geronimo, and urged them to be more like him.