Obituary - Irene M. "Bunny" Potts

Irene M. “Bunny” Potts, 71, passed away due to natural causes on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, at Missouri River Center in Great Falls.

Wake services began at 4:00 p.m. Thursday, September 13, 2018, and will continue until her funeral service, which will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 15, 2018, all at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. Burial will follow in the Rocky Boy Cemetery.

Holland & Bonine Funeral Home has been entrusted with services and arrangements.

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

Bunny was born on February 12, 1947, in Rocky Boy to Thomas and Ruth (Favel) Gardipee Sr. She was raised in Rocky Boy, graduating from Havre High School in 1965. Bunny continued her education at Haskell University, obtaining her bachelor’s degree in business in 1969. She married Melvin Potts and had three sons, two of whom passed away young. After her marriage, Bunny lived in Hobbema, Alberta, Canada, for close to 20 years with her husband before returning to Rocky Boy in the late 1980s. She worked for the Chippewa Cree Tribe in a clerical capacity for many years, most recently as an enrollment clerk, and served as the band administrator for the Montana Band.

Bunny was a kind, caring woman whom most referred to Mom or Auntie, and who enjoyed playing hand game, crossword puzzles, Sudoku puzzles and reading, especially the “gossip rags.” She also was a huge fan of the Lifetime channel.

She was preceded in death by her sons Curtis W. Belcourt and infant son; grandson Noah Gardipee; parents Tom and Ruth Gardipee, Sr .; and siblings Louise, Dirinda, Anna, Thomas Jr., and Loverne Gardipee.

Bunny is survived by her son James (Collette) Gardipee; two grandchildren, Tyrell and Mason Gardipee; adopted daughter Kendra Simon; brothers Allan Gardipee, Sr. and Vern Gardipee, Sr .; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and other extended family and friends.