SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Family of a man found dead last Friday at the Northern Lites Motel want the community to know what kind of person Johnny Abel really was.

He is survived by two daughters, Muttie and Sheila, and several grandchildren. He has one sister, Nora Williamson, and two brothers, Edward and Ernie.

"Johnny worked all his life until he got white-hand," said Williamson.

"He worked at Giant, he worked out in the bush - he worked cutting wood for Greg Sage for many years."

Williamson said he was the first man in Ndilo to own a truck.

"Because he got sick, he ended up on the street here in Yellowknife - but he was always a man of honour and he always tried to help people. He really was a good man," said Williamson.

Abel was afflicted with white-hand, which is officially known as Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome.

The syndrome is an industrial-related injury where exposure to constant vibrations in the hand and arm - in Abel's case, the heavy vibrations of drilling at Giant Mine and then operating a chainsaw cutting wood - damage the blood vessels and nerves in the arms and hands.

After Abel developed white-hand, he stopped working. He spent the last 20 years of his life on the streets of Yellowknife.

Abel spent a lot of time in residential schools growing up, but he used that time to learn guitar and play music.

He had a band called the Blind Onions, with whom he played guitar.

"He was quite the musician," said Williamson.

The band played old style rock and roll music, including covers of Credence Clearwater Revival and the Beatles.

Patricia Stewart, Abel's common-law wife, said she remembers him telling her about the band.

Abel was found unresponsive in the motel last Friday at noon by Stewart, who then called paramedics.

He died of natural causes, according to a press release issued by Garth Eggenberger, chief coroner for the NWT, on Wednesday.

His funeral is this Saturday at 2 p.m. at St. Patrick's Church.