Edith Bissonette

Funeral services for Edith Bissonette, 76, of Hammon, will be held at 10 a.m. Friday in the Hammon School Auditorium. 
She died Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017, at her Hammon home. 
Bissonette was born July 13, 1940, to Roy Whiteman and Myra (Wolfchief) Whiteman in Hammon. She was raised in Hammon and attended both Watonga and Hammon schools. She continued her education at Bethel College. 
On Jan. 17, 1978, she married Richard Wayne Whiteman in Colorado. 
She worked for Indian Health Services in both Hammon and Watonga. She also worked for the IBM Company in Denver, Colo., and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Bismarck, N.D. 
Bissonette also made her home in Towaco, Colo., and then settled back in Oklahoma in 1980 where she was employed in the dietary department at the Oklahoma Veterans Center in Clinton.
She was a proud member of the Cheyenne Tribes of Oklahoma  and was a member of the Mennonite Church. Her favorite pastime was playing bingo.
Bissonette was preceded in death by her parents; a daughter, Janie Badback; a son, Gerald Whiteman; five brothers, Darwin Whiteman Sr., Jerry Whiteman, Milton Whiteman, Randy Whiteman and an infant brother, Chester Whiteman; and two sisters, Phyllis Whiteman and Maryetta Whiteman. 
She is survived by her husband, of the home; a daughter, Vina Bissonette of Clinton; three sons, Dennis Whiteman and wife, Teri, of Artesia, N.M., Harry Kihega and Eddie Kihega, both of New Mexico; and numerous grandchildren and other family members. 
A traditional all-night wake service will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Hammon Indian Community Building.
The service will be officiated by Rev. Gerald Panana. Burial will conclude at Hammon Indian Cemetery under the direction of Kiesau- Lee Funeral Home.