Obituary - Kenneth C. Stanley, Rainbow Child (pi-si-m mah-pi w-ah-wah-si-s)

Kenneth C. Stanley, Rainbow Child (pi-si-m mah-pi w-ah-wah-si-s), 69, passed away on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, at Benefis Healthcare due to natural causes.

Wake services began at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, and will continue until his funeral, which was at 11:00 a.m. today, Wednesday, July 11, 2018, all at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Cremation followed his service.

Holland & Bonine Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.

Please visit Ken’s online memorial page and leave a message of condolence for his family at http://www.hollandbonine.com/.

Ken was born on June 16, 1949, in Fort Belknap to James and Gladys (Eagle Child) Stanley, Jr. He was raised in Rocky Boy, graduating from Box Elder High School in 1967. For the next few years, he worked as a teacher’s aide at the Rocky Boy schools. It was during this time that he met and began dating Sandra Tierney. The couple relocated to Vancouver, WA, during the fall of 1974, and that November they married in Vancouver. While in Vancouver, Ken attended Clark College, majoring in alcohol studies with an emphasis in chemical dependency counseling. They relocated to Portland, OR, where Ken attended Portland State University, receiving his bachelor’s degree in psychology/counseling/sociology in 1988, and his master’s degree in social work in 1992. He then began an extensive career as a clinical therapist, with an emphasis on alcohol and drug dependency and was especially concerned with providing services to Native American populations. He was also active with children’s programs, working to prevent abuse and ensuring that Native American Children’s welfare is kept in the forefront. In 2013, when Sandra passed away, Ken retired and returned to Rocky Boy.

He enjoyed leather working, reading and operating his personal “animal shelter” at Rocky Boy.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Sandra Stanley; parents, James and Gladys Stanley, Jr .; brothers, Daniel and Stephen Stanley; and grandparents, Charles and Delia Dog Sleep and James “Standing Horse” and Marie Stanley, Sr.

Ken is survived by his stepdaughters, Karlyn (Rick) Tierney Byham of Seattle, WA, and Mary Tierney of Oregon; three grandchildren; sisters, Ethel Parker of Rocky Boy, Sylvia (Kenneth) Ryan of Wolf Point, and Thelma (Tim Nault) Stanley of Rocky Boy, and numerous nieces, nephews and extended grandchildren.