Chloe Colleen DuMarce

Wambdi Iyeće Wiyan

Woman Who Acts Like an Eagle

April 14, 1989 - November 27, 2022

Funeral Service for Chloe Colleen DuMarce Wanbdi Iyeće Wiyan "Woman Who Acts Like and Eagle" 33, of Sisseton, South Dakota will be held on Saturday, December 3, 2022 at 11:00 A.M. at the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Community Center, Agency Village, SD with Father Charles Chan and Spiritual Leader Arvol Looking Horse officiating.  Pall Bearers will be Moses Renville, J.R. Renville, Dorien Brant, Cole Brant, Collin Brant, Shilo Renville, Vance Thompson, and Felix Renville III.  Honorary Pall Bearers will be Teresa White, LaDonna Haug, Elise German, Elise Johnson, Emma Renville, RedDawn Renville, Pat DuMarce, Alexi DuMarce, Bill and Nancy Smith, David Stillson, Mary Carl, Laurie Cloud, Lydsey LaCroix, Ashley Black Thunder, Amanda Renville, June Renville, and Collette Renville.  Drum Group will be Londell Seaboy.  Interment will be in the Sisseton Cemetery, Sisseton, SD.   A wake service will be held at the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Community Center on Friday, December 2, 2022, at 7:00 P.M.

Chloe Colleen DuMarce passed away on November 27, 2022, at her in the Barker Hill housing complex, at Old Agency, South Dakota. Chole was born April 14, 1989, in Watertown, South Dakota to Harvey and Colleen DuMarce, Sisseton South Dakota.

Chloe was always a shy and quiet person but had an engaging sense of humor that made many people laugh. She had a friendly smile for her children, her family, and her friends. Chloe was a tall young human which made her feel uncomfortable as a child growing up, but she later in life embraced her height as a blessing; which she passed on to her children.

At the age of three, Chloe and her family moved to Iowa City, Iowa in August of 1992, so her father could attend graduate school at the University of Iowa. They lived in Iowa City for five years. It was there that Chloe and her family became exposed to different cultures and languages from all over the world. She played with children from South Korea, China, Ghana, Argentina, and Middle Eastern countries. Chloe's first daycare provider was from Jordan, who, due to her Muslim faith, would not allow her father into her apartment to pick up Chloe. But when her mother came to pick up Chloe, she was welcomed into her home with great friendliness. Her daycare provider shared her Arabic culture through food and prayer with Chloe and the other children. Chloe remembered how her daycare provider would kneel on a prayer rug and pray, facing East, five times a day. Colleen once observed Chloe praying alongside her daycare provider. This was an experience Chloe never forget.

Chloe started Kindergarten at Butterworth Elementary School in Coralville, Iowa.

Chloe was always interested in her Dakota culture. She started Jingle dress dancing at an early age. Her mother had Jingle dress regalia made for Chloe, and she danced in several powwows in Iowa City. Her family has a cherished photograph of Chloe counting her day money after a powwow. Chloe practically grew up in Iowa City. She spent many weekends and evenings biking through the University of Iowa campus with her father and sister, Summer. Her favorite biking spaces included the huge parking lots near Carver-Hawkeye Arena and Kinnick Stadium, home of the Iowa Hawkeyes football team. She always carried with her the memories of those experiences.

Chloe and her family returned to Sisseton in June of 1996, after her father completed graduate school. Chloe and her sister, Summer, enrolled at the Kasyoki Christian Academy for one year. Later she enrolled at the Enemy Swim Day School and graduated from the 8 ^th grade in 2003. She received her Dakota name from the late cultural educator/spiritual advisor Danny Seaboy, Sr., at a Sundance. Chloe attended Sisseton High School, where she earned a letterman jacket as assistant manager for the girls' volleyball team. She graduated from Sisseton High School in 2007.

Chloe was always interested in the nursing field, she wanted to become a nurse. Helping and caring for others came naturally to her. While living with her sister in Bemidji, Minnesota, Chloe enrolled in a Certified Nursing Assistant program and earned her CNA certification from the State of Minnesota. She, along with her family, was very proud of her.

While living in Bemidji, Chloe met Jerome Jones, the father of her oldest daughter Jahzara. He passed away in 2017 due to a year-long struggle with the effects of diabetes.

Later Chloe worked at the Browns Valley Health Care Center as a CNA, and one of her greatest joys while working there was taking care of her Kunsi Caroline Renville. Grandmother and granddaughter looked forward to seeing each other daily. Joy can come in unexpected places.

Though there were many more joys and celebrations in Chloe's short life than we have listed, we felt it was a disservice to exclude hardships of her life.

Chloe's life should not be sugar-coated or glossed over, disillusionment with platitudes is false. She had her share of hardships, trials, and tribulations that ultimately claimed her young life. She became immersed in drug abuse which led her to a prison term in Pierre, South Dakota. She attended and completed successfully a drug treatment program in Granite Falls, Minnesota. Through challenges, Chloe remained focused on working to turn her life around, to make life a positive experience, instead of living a negative lifestyle that had no end. She wanted her light at the end of the tunnel; a better life for her and her children.

There is a lesson in Chloe's life that people need to acknowledge, and that is some of our Dakota people are deeply engaged in a dysfunctional lifestyle that seemingly has no end, it moves from generation to generation. This dysfunction is manifested in domestic abuse, drug abuse, and alcohol abuse. Some of our Dakota people continue to live with this litany of dysfunction. We now believe dysfunctional behaviors are the new normal. Dakota culture has been turned upside down by dysfunctional behavior and has been replaced with something called "rez culture." Rez culture has replaced Dakota culture.

Chloe's entire family has never stopped loving her. They will continue to love her to the end of their days. They will cherish the good memories they have of her.

Chloe leaves her children, Jahzara, KyMani, Remi Rose, Rome, and baby RaLo. She also leaves her parents, Harvey and Colleen DuMarce (Sisseton, South Dakota). Her brother, Shilo Renville (Agency Village, South Dakota). Her sisters, Summer DuMarce (Grand Rapids, Minnesota), Alexi DuMarce and Jace Fox (Fargo, North Dakota), and Carina DuMarce and fiancé, Alex Beil (Omaha, Nebraska).  Chloe also leaves behind her favorite nephews, Dorien Brant, Collin and Cole Brant (Grand Rapids, Minnesota), and Moses Renville (Peever, South Dakota). Chloe also leaves behind her Aunt Pam Renville (Sisseton, South Dakota), Aunt Faye and Uncle Paul Sanchez (Moline, Illinois). Her Uncles Felix Renville Jr. and Denise (Agency Village, South Dakota), and Uncle Nowell Renville and Crystal (New Effington, South Dakota). Uncle Ron DuMarce and Tammy and family (Sisseton, South Dakota). Uncle Ervin DuMarce and family (Browns Valley, Minnesota). She leaves behind her Hunka Uncle, Richard Bird (Sisseton, South Dakota). Chloe leaves behind other numerous Uncles, Aunties, and Cousins.

Chloe is preceded in death by her grandparents Felix Renville Sr. and Caroline Renville, and Harry and Lillian DuMarce. Her sister, baby Lillian DuMarce. Her niece, Iyanna Alexus DuMarce, and nephew Baby Ty (Tyson) Brant. Chloe had two Hunka uncles who preceded her in death, John and Les Shepherd (Sioux Falls, South Dakota).

After Chloe had passed away, and her father was resting on a sofa at home, Chloe's voice came into his mind, "Dad, I'm okay" to reassure him not to worry. She is at peace.

Chloe is reunited with Jahzara's dad Jerome Jones and her grandparents.