Joyce DeCrane

Joyce Elaine DeCrane, Ihkeelíiaxbiia (Morning Star Woman), 68, passed away peacefully on October 4, 2016. Joyce was born to Charles and Gladys Bird Hat DeCrane on April 3, 1948. She was a member of the Ties the Bundle Clan and a Child of the Greasy Mouth Clan. She was a direct descendant of Mountain Crow Chief Bell Rock and Sub Chief Bird Hat. She was a lifetime resident of Pryor, Montana. Joyce started her formal education at St. Charles Catholic Academy in Pryor. After graduating 8th grade there, she went on to attend Edgar High School where she graduated in 1967. Joyce then attended Haskell University in Lawrence, Kansas and obtained her Associates Degree in 1969. She returned to Montana and continued her education at Eastern Montana College until she began working full-time. Joyce was a lifelong educator. She started out as a teacher's assistant at Edgar High School for 3 years. Then she worked as a teacher's assistant at St. Charles Catholic Academy where she remained for 33 years. She most recently taught kindergarten. Joyce was an excellent Crow speaker, and was often called upon to share her knowledge. She always spoke to her students in the Crow language. Joyce enjoyed working with kids and all her students loved her. She was known to take naps along with them. In addition to being in the classroom, Joyce took on additional roles in the field of education. She was a member of the school board for the Pryor Public School and a member of the Parent Advisory Committee for the Pryor Head Start. Joyce has also served her community in other capacities. She was a cook at the Seven Hills Treatment Center. She was an election judge and a member of the Pryor Water Commission. During the summers she was a member of the Crow Tribe's 107 Enrichment Committee. Joyce was a devout Catholic. She was a member of the St. Charles Parish and served on the Parish Council for several years. Joyce also participated in Crow traditional ways. She was active in the Native American Church and avidly took part in the Crow Sweat Lodge. She was an expert maker of Crow regalia and outfits. Her friends and family remember her fondly making handgame outfits late into the night. She also enjoyed making Crow traditional foods. She was known for her frybread making skills and for keeping a tradition of making pemmican every New Year's Eve just as her mother had done. Above all else, Joyce was a very giving and caring person in her younger years. She was always called upon to babysit for her aunties. She was a single mother who did everything she could for her sons. One of her happiest days was watching her son, Sampson, graduate from Rocky Mountain College. She was also a loving grandmother. She raised two of her grandsons and helped to care for her only great grandson. Her grandkids were her world. She loved spoiling them and they all loved having sleepovers at her house. One of Joyce's cherished memories was going on a road trip to Oregon with her grandkids to visit her granddaughter, Sadie, and to see the ocean again. Joyce loved spending time with her family like this. Every year she looked forward to going to Red Lodge to picnic with them during the Fourth of July as well as going to Crow Fair to camp with them. She enjoyed hosting holiday meals for her family at her house. She was known to open up her home to everyone. She had visitors daily by family, relatives and friends. She even had youth from the community who stayed in her home from time to time. Joyce was simply a selfless person who always loved and took care of others. She will be missed by the many people whose lives she has touched. Joyce is preceded in death by her grandparents, Sampson and Cecelia Other Blackbird Bird Hat, Alexander DeCrane, and Sarah Bull That Shows; parents; sister, Agenetas DeCrane; grandsons, Michael DeCrane and Alexander Whiteman; adopted mom, Beulah Stewart DeCrane; adopted son, Dione Bell Rock, and aunt Theresa Bird Hat-Haun. She is survived by her sons, Sampson (Veronica) and Luke (Marcy) DeCrane Sr; daughter, Valerie (Clifton) Falls Down; grandchildren, Luke (Dana), Sadie, Courage, Darrian, Austin, Bryan, Robert, Wayman, Steven, Brendan, and Cole; great grandson, Kyrin; siblings, Mary, Reuben (Christine), Ellsworth (Pauline), Berylene, Althea, Rachael and Senator Lawrence (Martha) DeCrane, and Angie (Darrell) Bright Wings; adopted siblings, Carlos Nomee and Suzanne York of Bellingham, WA; adopted children, Belle Laverdure, Darren Fritzler, Victor Bull Shows Sr., Roberta Broken Rope, Sidney (Karla) DeCrane, Melanie DeCrane, Archie Flat Lip, Mary Nathelle Flat Lip White, Rita Bell Rock, J.K. Bell Rock, Chamique Not Afraid, and Kimberly Falls Down; numerous nieces and nephews; Aunts Agnes (Larry) Pretty Weasel, Rosalie Turnsback, Regina Goes Ahead, Charlene Laverdure, Irma Jane Bird Hat; Uncle Chester (Ethel) Bird Hat and extended family including the Bird Hat, DeCrane, Goes Ahead, Cummins, Whiteman, Pretty Weasel, Turns Plenty, Flat Lip, Spotted Bear, Morrison, Red Wolf, Black Hawk, Crooked Arm, Hugs, Not Afraid, Humphrey, Old Crane, Wall, Plain Feather, Roundface, Plain Bull, Williamson, Big Lake, White Plume, Bull Tail, Old Horn, Caplette, Bear Cloud, Bull Chief, Beaumont, Yarlott, Peshlekai, Little Owl, Real Bird, Other Blackbird, Bad Bear, and Moccasin families. Please accept our apologies if we have missed anyone during our time of grief. On Thursday viewing will begin at 10:00 am with a Rosary starting at 6:00 pm at Dahl Funeral Chapel. Funeral Services will be 11:00 am Friday, October 7 at St. Charles Mission in Pryor. Interment will be in Bird Hat/DeCrane Family Cemetery.