Mary Belle Lonebear

Funeral services will be held for longtime Clinton resident Mary Belle Lonebear, 89, at 11 a.m. Saturday in the First United Methodist Church.
She died Sunday, May 27, 2018, at Deaconess Hospital in Oklahoma City. 
Mary Belle (Curtis) Lonebear was born Aug. 8, 1928, during a traditional Sundance Ceremony in Cantonment. She was raised in Geary and Watonga, and graduated from Clinton High school in 1947. 
She attended nursing school in Texas and then returned to Clinton, where she was employed at the Clinton Indian Hospital. She assisted in delivering many babies and later became the hospital’s telephone operator. 
She married William Lonebear Sr. in 1952 in Thomas.
Lonebear was member of Clinton Indian Methodist Church and the Native American Church, and she loved making shawls and doing Indian beadwork. 
She served as the Cheyenne Princess 1947 and 1948, and was the Cheyenne Arapaho Labor Day Pow Wow Princess for two years.
Lonebear was instrumental in forming the Military Service Club and served as its president for many years. 
She was preceded in death by her husband; two sons, William Lonebear Jr. and Robert Lonebear Sr.; three brothers, Nathan Curtis, Raymond Stonecalf and Ameil George Curtis Jr.; and a sister, Caroline Curtis.
Survivors include two daughters, Laquita Lonebear and spouse Seger Williams of Geary and Kimberley Lonebear of Clinton; two adopted sons, Darrell Flyingman of Colony and Perkins White Tail of Mayetta, Kan.; a sister, Roberta Harrison of Clinton; two adopted sisters, Marie Whiteman of Watonga and Mary Arkeketa of Sand Springs; and an adopted brother, Max Watan of Weatherford.
She is also survived by 13 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.
An all-night wake service will be held beginning at 7 p.m. Friday in the Clinton Indian Community Center. 
The service will be officiated by Rev. Sophia Big Goose and Rev. Gerald Panana. Burial will conclude at Clinton Indian Cemetery under the direction of Kiesau-Lee Funeral Home.