Phyllis M. McKay (Herman)

Phyllis M. McKay, 70 a homemaker and mother of eleven, passed away peacefully on Saturday afternoon, July 14, 2018 at her Fort Totten home in the loving presence of her family.  

Mass of Christian Burial for Phyllis will be held on Saturday, July 21, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at Seven Dolors Catholic Church, Fort Totten with Father Charles Leute OP celebrating the Mass. Phyllis will be brought home at a later time.  

Visitation will be held at Seven Dolors Church on Friday from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. with a Rosary and Scripture Service at 7:00 p.m. The procession to Seven Dolors will leave on Friday at 5:00 p.m.

Phyllis worked as a Pre-School Teacher’s Assistant and as a cook for the Fort Totten Police Department in her early years. She loved being a homemaker and raising her children.  There wasn’t a time when you visited Phyllis’s home that it wasn’t rearranged with her unique creativity.  Phyllis also collected memorabilia from many special occasions that she kept till her passing. 

Our love for Phyllis will always be true and we will miss her deeply, but Phyllis’s heart belonged with her strong and loving husband of 56 years, Ernest P. McKay I.

May their eternal rest together be as it was here on earth.

Pallbearers for Phyllis will be Joel Swinland, Dean Morken, Matt Davidson, Dustin McKay, Terry Herman Jr., Eronn McKay, Ernest McKay II, Kobe McKay, Rodney Burkhard and Bradley Johnson.      

Honorary Bearers for Phyllis will be her special grandson Tobias Denver McKay, Lois McKay, Laurie Alexander (Phyllis’s twin sister), Solomon Peltier, Kassi Allery, Theresa Thomas, Matt Davidson, Bradley Johnson, Kim McKay, Dale Nelson, Rodney Burkhard and Phyllis’s many family and friends who touched her life/heart during this time on earth.

Phyllis is survived by her sons Eronn McKay, Ernest McKay II, Erick McKay, Earland McKay; daughters Cheryl McKay, Sharon Peltier, Ernesta Davidson, Erlinda McKay, Danyelle Nelson; brothers Joe, Butch, Tommy, Steve and Roy Jr. Herman all of Belcourt; sisters Louella, Velma, Delila, Berta and Debbie; 44 grandchildren; 19 great grandchildren; many nieces and nephews.      

She was preceded in death by her husband Ernest Phil McKay I on June 2, 2018; parents Clemence (Lohnes) and Eugene Roy Herman; son Elliott McKay; daughter Marcella Morken; grandson Erick McKay Jr.; brothers Alfred “Big Man”, Roger “Stinky”, Harry and Cletus Herman; sisters Violet, Hattie and Lorraine “Tootsie” and many other relatives.      

We would also like to thank the Hospice Nurses, Sami, Amy and Peggy and Dr. Downs for taking care of our precious Mother. We thank you so much.  Please forgive us if we did not mention you by name.  It was not done intentionally.  We are doing our best in this incredibly sad and difficult time.        

Phyllis is in the care of the Gilbertson Funeral Home, Devils Lake, ND