Kathy Ann (Windy Boy) Gardipee

Kathy Ann (Windy Boy) Gardipee

Rocky Boy — Kathy Ann (Windy Boy) Gardipee went to our Creator Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011, at Benefis Hospital in Great Falls, Mont.

A wake was at the Rocky Boy Catholic Church Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011, with services following at 11 today, Aug. 5, 2011. Burial was to follow at the Windy Boy Family Cemetery in Rocky Boy. Services and arrangements have been entrusted to Holland & Bonine Funeral Home.

Kathy was born Dec. 31, 1955, to John and Katherine (First Raised) Windy Boy at the Fort Belknap Indian Hospital in Harlem, Mont.

She made her home at Rocky Boy and was raised in Parker School until her family moved to Haystack in 1959

Kathy attended high school in Box Elder, Mont. After high school Kathy traveled and worked in Dallas and Billings, Mont., before returning home to work for the Rocky Boy Police Department as a dispatcher.

In 1975, Kathy met her life partner and true love, Stan Gardipee Jr. Together, Stan and Kathy raised their child, Marissa Gardipee, and adopted grandsons Alonzo Windy Boy and Ryan Gardipee. Kathy's great joy were her fifteen grandchildren.

There was never a moment that Kathy was not surrounded by her grandchildren. She especially enjoyed watching grandchildren, nieces and nephews play basketball for the Rocky Boy Stars. She travelled to all the games, if possible, both near and far.

Kathy's second love was going to powwows and watching the dances. Although she enjoyed all the dances, she especially loved watching her son Wesley Windy Boy dance in the Men's Grass competition.

Kathy, lovingly known to her family as "Beshie, " nicknamed by her grandpa First Raised, was a fancy shawl dancer. She learned to dance by practicing with her older siblings on the dirt floor of their log cabin while her father, John, sang.

Bessie's family was traditional, and although she was raised modestly, she was rich with family, love and culture.

Kathy is survived by her husband, Stan Gardipee Jr. ; sons, Jason Smith and Wesley Windy Boy; daughter, Marissa Gardipee; stepchildren, Kenny, Ronnie, Ricky and Suzie; brothers, Alvin (Jessica), Everett (Monica) and Jonathan Windy Boy; sisters, Geraldine (Howard) Racine, Myra Windy Boy, Valarie Windy Boy and Cheryl (Francisco) Windy Boy, all of Rocky Boy; and Auntie Mary Lone Bear of Mandaree, N.D.

She is preceded in death by her father, John Windy Boy; mother, Katherine (First Raised) ; brother, John Windy Boy Jr. ; sister-in-law, Darlene Windy Boy; and nephews John Windy Boy IV and little Howard Racine Jr.