GEORGE DONEY obituary

HAYS George R. “Chinky” Doney, 78, died Friday, Jan. 26, 2007, at Fort Belknap Indian Health Center due to natural causes.

His funeral Mass was scheduled for today at 10 a.m. at St. Paul's Catholic Church with burial following at Doney Owl Head Mountain Cemetery with military honors. His wake began Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Mission Recreation Center. His rosary was Monday at 7 p.m. at Mission Recreation Center. Chinky was born Sept. 22, 1928, to Dave and Ernestine (Fleury) Doney on Sage Brush Flats in Hays. Chinky attended St. Paul's Mission School until 1944. He had to work and help his dad and mom provide for three families. His first job was helping PaPa log in the Little Rockies. Chinky enlisted in the U.S. Army in October 1946. He was a medical aid man serving in Japan with the 1st Medical Squadron, 1st Calvary. He participated in advanced military training and administered first aid to injured soldiers. He was honorary discharged in February 1948. Chinky married the love of his life, Hazel Marie Cuts The Rope, on Dec. 17, 1948 in Hays. Chinky was a great hunter and provided for family with his wild game and when game was scarce, he fed half of Pine Grove. He worked and supported his family all his life as a rancher, BLM Laborer and contracted with Fort Belknap Housing. Working all over Montana as a cement finisher and after retirement from construction he worked many years as a security guard for Hays/Lodgepole School. Chinky had humor and teased everyone and made people laugh with his stories. He loved watching old Westerns with his grandchildren. In his younger years, he loved to dance with his wife, Hazel. Chinky supported his children and grandchildren in all sports and rodeo events. He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Hazel in January of 2006; brothers, Tux, Virgil, Bernard and Arthur; sisters, Doris DeCelles, Myrtle Quincy and Rose Cochran; son, Art Doney in 1989; son-in-law, Alvin (Rastus) Kennedy in 1996; grandson, Jason Doney; and great granddaughter Luci Marie Doney of Muskogee, Okla. Survivors include his children, Andy (Ruby) Doney of Cut Bank, Jenny (Steve) Bigby of Harlem, Michael (Elizabeth) Doney of Hays and Peggy (the late Rastus) Kennedy of Fort Belknap; sister-in-law, Cecelia DeCelles of Fort Belknap; 15 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; sisters, Caroline (Jim) Ellioff of Bovey, Minn., and Valerie (Pete) Gascon of Great Falls; brother, John (Bonnie) Doney of Havre; and numerous nieces and nephews. Arrangements are by Edwards Funeral Home of Chinook.