20 November 2025
Wolf Point’s Keiser Awarded Rhodes Scholarship
BOZEMAN – Doriane Keiser, a senior at Montana State University who plans to return to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation where she grew up to work for the betterment of individual and community mental health, has been awarded a 2026 Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford.
Keiser, an associate member of the Fort Peck tribes, is one of just 32 American scholars selected over the
Joseph Edward “Joe” Sorensen ….
Joseph Edward “Joe” Sorensen passed away on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2025, at the age of 76.
Born in Scobey, Mont., on Jan. 11, 1949, Joe was insistent on forging his own path through life. He was a fiercely independent man.
Those who knew him will remember him in a variety of perspectives. For some, he will be remembered as a devoted husband. Married to Margaret Joyce “Peggy Jo” in August 1987, he was her best friend and partner. Lunches, meals and simple walks. Even following her passing in August of 2003, he remained loyal to his love to the end.
Others will remember him as a veteran. Joe served in the Army following high school as a mechanic, where he was stationed in Germany, as well as a tour in Vietnam.
For some, he was a friend or coworker. Ever loyal and dedicated, hard work was just a hobby for Joe as he made it look easy. If you needed a hand, he was the first one there.
Cars were his passion. Whether as a mechanic or a trucker or cruising on his bike, he loved engines and the road.
In later years, Joe enjoyed fishing, watching Westerns, coffee with his friends at various stops in Wolf Point and hanging around the shop, where he “supervised” and occasionally still got his hands dirty.
A father and mentor, Joe
Pastor Johnette Grefe
Johnette Whittaker Grefe died Nov. 7, 2024, in Billings Clinic Hospital.
She was the eldest daughter of George and Hazel Wolter Whittaker and was born Aug. 18, 1938. She graduated as salutatorian from Plentywood High School in 1956 and then attended nursing school for a time in Minot, N.D.
She met and married farmer John William Grefe in Plentywood Lutheran Church on March 15, 1958. They lived on the Grefe farm west of Reserve, raising three children, chickens, cattle and crops. She was an accomplished seamstress, sewing most of the family’s clothing, including special outfits for Easter and Christmas and even a suit for John. She would pack her trusty Bernina to Plentywood’s hospital and nursing home every few months to do their mending.
Involved with Faith Lutheran Church of Wanso, she played piano and organ. She also provided piano lessons to her three children, neighbor children and some adults as well. She taught Sunday school, helped clean the church, readied food for
