Obituary: Avis Cecile (Cochran) King

Avis Cecile (Cochran) King, "White Eagle Plume Woman," 58, passed away of natural causes at Fort Belknap Health Services Sept. 20, 2016.

Wake services will begin at noon and the rosary will be said at 7 p.m., all Friday, Sept. 23, 2016, at the Red Whip Center. Her funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, also at the Red Whip, and burial will follow at the King residence.

Holland & Bonine Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.

Please visit Avis' online memorial page and leave a message of condolence for her family at http://www.hollandbonine.com.

Avis was born Sept. 19, 1958, at Fort Belknap Agency to Robert and Ola Cochran. She was raised on Fort Belknap, attending schools in Harlem, Hays, Seattle White Center, Fort Sill and Chilocco High School, and obtained her GED in the late 1970s. On June 15, 1991, Avis married Harvey King in LodgePole.

Over the years, in addition to caring for her home and family, Avis worked for the Summer Youth Employment Program in high school, and, after school, Mary's Clothing Store in the Fort Belknap Shopping Center, Headstart, Fort Belknap Recreation, Tribal Court, Bear Paw Co-op, Forestry Financing, Tribal Extension Office, Firefighting, Camp Crew, the Bingo Hall, Clyde's Store and the Food Farm.

When her daughter was a young child, Avis enjoyed traveling with her mother Ola and her baby sister Sybil to powwows all over Canada and the Western United States. She was a true artist who had handcrafted many dancer's beaded regalia and hand fringed many beautiful shawls.

She loved children and took in many without ever asking for anything in return. During holidays, she would bake dozens of sugar cookies and invite all the kids over to decorate them, taking home their plates of goodies. Avis would volunteer her time in the community helping elders and youth.

Avis was truly about family. She was the organizer of all the family dinners and get-togethers, birthday parties, Christmas Eve dinner, powwow family camp cookout and Sunday dinner. She loved getting the entire family together, and she loved to cook - and, boy, was she good at it. She would even make a hot dish for her dogs! She loved feeding visitors at her camp during the powwow and having people over. Friends immediately became family and her home was always open to those traveling.

Avis is survived by her husband, Harvey King of Hays; her children, Rose (Gerri Stiffarm) Cochran of Missoula, Robert (Tim) King, Edmund, Louie and Jay King, all of Hays; her adopted daughters Lindsey (Big Wind) Windy Boy of Billings, Verlin (Ben) Wells of Prairie Island, Minnesota; her special niece Carla (Gordie) King of Fort Belknap; her grandchildren, Cathedral and Roman King, Takeshi Last Capture, Taniya Cliff, and Desarae Stiffarm, Ambreya, Kyrie, Nahminae and Zaynah Windy Boy, Kyra, Brendan, and Kyrsten Henry, Dana Woods, Mikey Cochran, and Ashleigh, Alex and Leo Wells; her father, Robert Cochran Sr. of Hays; her brother Robert Cochran Jr., Joe Cochran and Adrian Cochran, all of Fort Belknap, and Preston Cochran of Hays; her sisters, Dawn Cochran, Henrietta Morin, Sandy Cochran and Kellie Cochran, all of Fort Belknap, Tracy (Mitchell) King of Bear Gulch, Sybil (Jim) Allen of Havre, Veronica (Johnny) Gonzales of Los Lunas, New Mexico, and Daryl (Bob) Brockie; her aunts, Amy Horseman, Vivian Cochran, Ruby (Henry) Brockie, Marlene (Bill) Stiffarm, and Ramona (Fred) DesRosier; her uncles, Robert (Barbara) Ball and Reuben (Jackie) Horseman; and numerous beloved cousins, including Frances (Deborah Walls) Cochran, nieces, nephews, adopted children, and other extended family and friends.

She is preceded in death by her mother, Ola Cochran; paternal grandmother, Rosie Cochran; maternal grandmother, Edna Warrior-Ball; and granddaughter, Kaidence Shohn.