Aurelia Littlebird-Blackbear

Funeral services for Aurelia Littlebird-Blackbear, 69, of Watonga, will be held at 10 a.m. today in the Watonga Multi-purpose Center. 
She died Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City. 
Littlebird-Blackbear was born Dec. 23, 1947, to Harry Littlebird and Anna Joyce (King) Littlebird in Ashland, Mont. She was raised in Lame Deer, Mont., and graduated from St. Labre Indian Mission in 1967. 
In 1968 and 1969 she served as a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints missionary while in Chinle, Ariz. She then moved to Dallas, Texas, where she attended Baylor Medical Center and earned her Licensed Practical Nursing degree in 1971. 
She married Eugene Blackbear Nov. 29, 1976, in Weatherford. They made their homes in Tulsa and Lame Deer, Mont., and moved to Watonga in 1990. 
Littlebird-Blackbear worked as a nurse in most locations where they resided, and most recently had worked for the Indian Health Services in Clinton, El Reno and Watonga. 
She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a member of the NAC, and she was a proud member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. She enjoyed the traditional ceremonies, cooking traditional food, doing beadwork and singing. 
She was preceded in death by her parents and a sister, Limona Littlebird.
Survivors include her husband, of the home; two daughters, Stella Redwolf Blackbear and Wilma Joyce Blackbear, both of Watonga; two sons, Eugene Blackbear III and wife, Larissa, and Frederick Blackbear, all of Watonga; 10 grandchildren; and numerous brothers and sisters. 
A traditional all-night wake service was held Friday in the Watonga Multi-Purpose Center. 
The service will be officiated by Rev. Gerald Panana and other traditional tribal leaders, and under the direction of Kiesau-Lee Funeral Home. Burial will conclude at St. Labre Mission in Ashland, Mont.