Joyce Marie (Sethre) Lawrence was born Jan. 8, 1948, in Wolf Point, Mont. She passed Aug. 13, 2025, in Reston, Va. In the cold windy, wintery conditions of January, Donald and Elaine proudly brought home their newest arrival of the family to the Sethre farm 25 miles north of Wolf Point. She was the third sibling, joining brother Gary and sister Karen. She would receive another sister, Carol, and brother, Mark, to complete their family. Joyce was baptized and confirmed at First Lutheran Church of Wolf Point which was a place of fellowship and friendship for their Scandinavian family. Her path to education started in the one room Woods School out on the prairie. Her tales of walking to school (uphill both ways) came to an end when the school was closed. The Sethre children transitioned to Northside Elementary where Joyce would start fourth grade. Following Joyce's graduation from Wolf Point High School in 1965, she attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. Upon receiving her bachelor’s degree in education, Joyce was off to Oregon with her first stop at Prineville, Ore., as a high school English teacher. Her later stops included Bend and Hermiston, Ore., where she preformed her duties as school librarian. After furthering her education at the University of Denver, Joyce became a legal librarian for Pepper, Hamilton and Scheetz where she met a bright young lawyer named John Stephen Lawrence. Steve and Joyce married on March 19, 1988. They purchased a lovely home together and resided at Fairfax Station, Va., until both needed additional assistance in recent years. Joyce belonged to the Lord of Life Lutheran Church and helped with many coffee hours, bake sales and dinners where she deeply enjoyed the fellowship and friendships she found there. She also belonged to a chapter of the Sons of Norway where she loved delving into her Norse

Raymond Skinsa Whitetailfeather, 95, died Aug. 19, 2025. He was born in what the Tribes called “Little Chicago” in 1930. This was down the hill along the Poplar River when the only major road was BIA Route 1 south of the railroad tracks. He attended 11 years at the Poplar High School and his senior year at Stewart Indian School in Carson City, Nev. He had clerical training at the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas. In 1949, he joined the U.S. Army and served for three years in Korea. He returned to the reservation after his honorable discharge from service and met Ruby Jean (Wilson) Whitetailfeather. They were married in 1953. Soon after, they participated in the U.S. Government’s Indian Relocation Program and moved to San Jose, Calif. He attended the San Jose City College and studied English, psychology and history. During his time in California, he helped organize two Indian Organizations — the United American Indians of Santa Clara Valley and the Bay Area Indian Activities Inc. — and served as chairman of the board of both organizations. He was also a commissioner on the Economic Opportunity Commission, (California State). During that time, he wrote this for his interview with the board of directors of the United American Indians: “I have no selfish aims of personal glory or monetary gain, but I do have a sincere desire to see a constructive program developed for the Indian people here in Santa Clara Valley (present day San Jose). A program that will influence the American Indian to become self-sufficient as an individual and as a people. I believe it is high time that we as Indian people began to assert ourselves, that we begin to organize ourselves so that the younger generation to follow will be inspired and carry on what we establish. I know I can do this without rioting and protesting. We can do this by organizing and developing our own program, by cooperating with

Ronald Carroll Christensen, 84, of Dagmar died Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the Sheridan Memorial Nursing Home in Plentywood. He was born June 16, 1941, to Ray and Millie Christensen (Rasmussen) in Williston, N.D. They brought him home to the farm in Dagmar, where he was later joined by brother, Richard, and sister, Lila. He attended a country school for elementary education then went to Grenora, N.D., for high school. There, he was a member of a car club he helped organize called The Aces. He and his friends loved working on cars and singing to popular music of the day, by singers like Jim Reeves and Tex Ritter. He was a proud veteran, having been drafted into the Army in the early ‘60s. As part of his service, he deployed to South Carolina for riot control during the Martin Luther King Jr. marches. He also served in special forces, working with heavy equipment and the chemical, Agent Orange. While home on leave from the Army, he went on a blind date with Patricia Ann Rockstad. After returning to his station, the two wrote letters back and forth. In one letter, he told Pat he bought her a ring. In the next letter, he told her he sold the ring and bought a car. Despite the first ring having been sold, the two married in September 1965. Soon after, they welcomed a son, Robert. Two and a half years later, Roger was born, followed by another son, Rodney, and then another, Russell. They moved their boys