AMELIA LENOIR

Amelia Josephine (DuBois) LeNoir Born, October 8 1924 in Fort Totten, ND and passed away, peacefully, on December 22, 2014. She is preceded in death by: her husband John Baptist LeNoir, Parents Benjamin and Mary (St Clair) DuBois , 2 children - Lanette LeNoir and Marie Dornheim; 7 grandchildren – Jimmy Monette, Michael LeNoir, Monica Valenzuela, Joel LeNoir Jr, Larissa LeNoir, and James and Frederick LeNoir; 3 great-grandchildren – Michelle Monette, Richard Valenzuela Jr and Angel LeNoir; 3 brothers - Melvin Edward DuBois, Benjamin Edward DuBois, Alexander Lee DuBois; and, 2 sisters - Doreen Hjertaas, Rosella Agnes Hous. Amelia is survived by: 2 sisters - Theresa Charboneau and Irene Shipley; 12 Children - Mary Monette (Joe Longie), Michelle Thompson (Rodger), John LeNoir, Sharon Tester (Michael), JoAnn Johnson (Bradley), James LeNoir (Renee), Jerry LeNoir (Paulette), Jeffrey LeNoir, Joel LeNoir (Wanda), Jackie LeNoir, Lee LeNoir and LeRoy LeNoir. 64 Grandchildren, 132 Great-Grandchildren and 8 Great-Great-Grandchildren. Amelia grew up in Fort Totten, ND, attended school in Stephan Indian School in Highmore, SD and the Indian Boarding School in St Michael, ND. John Baptist LeNoir proposed to Amelia July 4, 1941 and they were married November 29, 1941 at the Seven Dolars Catholic Church. Amelia always told the story of her wedding day breakfast: ring bologna, fried potatoes and eggs and the black chiffon skirt she wore. John was in the US Army while Amelia gave birth to their first two children, Mary and Marie. Shortly afterward, John left the Army and the couple both worked for the Fort Totten (Cavalry Square) where they also lived. Amelia worked in the bakery and the laundry until the couple moved to Minneapolis with their now 5 more children (Michelle, John, Sharon, JoAnn and James (Bimbo). Amelia worked as a cook for Northern Pump, Kretskies and a few others; and as a maid in various places in the Twin Cities for several years. The couple enjoyed fishing in many of the local lakes and rivers; and were well known to be a smooth dancing couple in the Twin Cities. While in the Twin Cities, the couples’ daughter, Lanette passed away and was the first of Amelia’s children to precede her in death. 1966 the couple moved back to the Fort Totten area with their now family of 10 (Jerry, Jeffrey and Joel). John was a carpenter and Amelia continued her work in cooking and daycare provision. John passed away in 1972 and in 1978 Amelia became one of the first Native people in the United States to adopt 3 children under the new Indian Child Welfare Act (Jacqueline, Lee, LeRoy) to add to her large family. Amelia had a true love for people in need, especially children. We are unable to count the large number of children to whom she opened her home for Foster Care or just those who needed a place to stay for a while. Two of these many children Amelia chose to keep in her home and add to her always growing family, Lenna St. John and Lisa McPhail. Amelia spoke French fluently and lived to see fifteen different US Presidents. Amelia lived in Grand Forks, near her sisters for several years, until the 100-Year Flood forced her to evacuate the city, at which time she returned to Devils Lake. In her mid to late seventies Amelia worked at the Dakota Boys Ranch, and for local daycares to rock babies. In her spare time she went to Bingo and enjoyed the casino or playing cards and Yahtzee with whomever visited her home in Fort Totten. For the last 3 years, Amelia chose to reside at the Heartland Care Center as she has so many children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren that she wanted to be in a place large enough to hold all of us. There are so many memories to share. Some favorites include her arm wrestling with her sons (and winning), her uncanny ability to whistle quite loudly. We all remember her complete love for all little children – with her work in local daycares she had many kids calling her grandma when they’d see her in a store. None of us will ever again eat so well as she was unarguably the best cook around. As a widowed mother she could stretch a dollar and make every one of us feel like we deserved it. The older group of her 64 grandchildren remembers holidays at “The Big House” in Fort Totten where we spent hours sliding down the ditch embankments before going in to eat, placing our gloves, hats and boots on the giant heating grate that graced the living room floor. Nearly all her 132 great-grandchildren enjoyed the fact that Great-Grandma Amelia knew their faces and names every time they visited – for many, she even talked about details of their activities and social lives. This truly epitomizes the love she had for children. As the 8 Great-great-grandchildren grow into many more, they will hear the stories of Amelia’s strength of spirit, love for children and zeal for family. Visitation for Amelia will be on Friday, December 26th at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, St. Michael, ND beginning at 4:00 p.m. with a Rosary and Scripture Service at 7:00 p.m. The procession to St. Michael will leave on Friday at 3:00 p.m. from the former Wal-Mart. Mass of the Resurrection will be held on Saturday, December 27th at 10:00 a.m. at the church with Fr. Paul Schuster celebrating the Mass. Burial will be in St. Jerome’s Catholic Cemetery, Fort Totten, ND at a later date.