Bruce Kelly Sunchild Mitchell O-sahw-Pi-Nays “Yellowbird”

Bruce Kelly Sunchild Mitchell, 54, died Wednesday, July 14, 2010, at Benefis Health Care in Great Falls, Mont., due to lung cancer.

His wake service began Thursday, with his funeral service at 11

a. m. Friday, all at the Rocky Boy Lutheran Church, with Linda Webster and Ken Writing Bird officiating.

Burial will be held at the Rocky Boy Cemetery. Services and arrangements have been entrusted to Holland & Bonine Funeral Home.

Bruce was born Aug. 28, 1955, in Fort Belknap, Mont., to John Lorin and Irene (Sunchild) Mitchell. He was given his Indian name O-sahw-Pi-Nays, meaning Yellowbird, by John Roddy Sunchild. Bruce was named after his great-grandfather.

He graduated from Chilocco Indian High School in 1974. He attended Bacone College in Oklahoma.

He married Carol Ann Ross in 1989 and had a daughter, Katherine, and a son, Aaron Blayze. They later divorced.

Kelly worked and managed a liquor store, called Hatches, in Colorado. He returned to Rocky Boy and worked for Stellar Seas Fishery. He worked several places in Rocky Boy, including the high school and Water Resources Department. Kelly enjoyed sports and participated in high school basketball. He played for the Rocky Boy Rockets basketball team. He loved to golf and fish, spending time with his family and friends and was an avid Denver Broncos fan.

He was preceded in death by his father, John Mitchell; a baby brother; maternal grandparents, Pete and Fannie (Oats) Sunchild; and paternal grandparents, Paul and Leona Mitchell.

Bruce is survived by his son, Aaron Blayze Sunchild, and his daughter, Katherine Leona Sunchild, both of Aurora, Colo .; his mother, Irene Sunchild Mitchell of Rocky Boy, Mont .; his brothers, John (Gail) Mitchell and Paul Mitchell, both of Rocky Boy, Mont .; his sisters, Joan (Bobby) Mitchell and Jan (Tim) Mitchell, both of Rocky Boy, Mont .; his nephews, Beau (Kim) Mitchell, Dennis, Baby John, Chontay, Jasper and Loren Lee; his nieces, Mackenzie, Jordan, Paula Shayne, Lovee, Gerilynn and Sydney Lynn; his aunts, Zellah, Dorothy, Hele, Elsie, Sister (Alice) and Mary Margaret, Florence; and his uncles, Bruce and Rusty.