Funeral services for Christine P. Haskeltsie Martin, 104, of Sundance Coalmine Road, New Mexico will be held Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. at Redeagle Memorial Presbyterian Church U.S.A., Fort Kipp, Montana. Interment followed at the Fort Kipp Community Cemetery. Lunch to follow.
Christine was born Sept. 14, 1912, in the Sundance Coalmine Road area, into the Kin Yaa'áanii (Towering House Clan), born for Tó'aheedlíinii (The Water Flows Together Clan). Her maternal grandparents are Tódich'ii'nii (Bitter Water Clan) and paternal grandparents are Naakai dine'é (Mexican-Dine Clan). She died Dec. 22, 2016, in Wilmot, South Dakota.
Christine attended Rehoboth Christian School and Albuquerque Indian High School, graduating in the top 10% of her class. She then attended Sage Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, Ganado Mission, which was founded by the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, Presbyterian Church, and earned a degree as a Registered Nurse. Sage was the first and only accredited nursing program for Native American women in the United States.
Christine was employed with Rehoboth Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital of Gallup, Zuni PHS Hospital of Black Rock and then Gallup Indian Medical Center as a Registered Nurse retiring after 41 years of service. She was an American Gold Star Mother, accepting a Service Flag on behalf of her deceased mother many years after the death of her brother, Nelson Haskeltsie, who died in the Battle of the Bulge of World War II.
Christine loved children and spending time with family. She enjoyed reading, doing word search puzzles, listening to music, watching the Sound of Music and Gone with the Wind, singing Dakota Hymns, and sewing star quilts and block quilts. She was an accomplished seamstress making clothes for her children and many other family members. She was a devout Christian who read her Bible daily and was involved in the church including the Ladies Aide Society of Red Eagle Memorial Presbyterian Church USA, Ft. Kipp, while she visited in Montana over the years.
Christine is survived by her son, Timothy Martin Sr. of Rehoboth; daughter, Cynthia Martin (Enright) Bighorn Sr. of Brockton, Montana; and a niece who she helped raise, Rose Marie Yazzie of Twin Lakes; 8 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.
Christine is preceded in death by her husband, Willis Martin of Coyote Canyon; father, George W. Haskeltsie of Twin Lakes; mother, Johanna Green Haskeltsie of Sundance Coalmine Road; brothers, George Jr., Kenneth, Nelson, Walter, Jimmy, Gilbert, and Jerome Haskeltsie, sisters, Johanna Smith and Josephine Keeto, all of Sundance Coalmine Road; and a niece who she helped raise, Geraldine Shorty of the Rehoboth area.
Pallbearers will be Timothy Martin Jr., Enright Bighorn Jr., Nathaniel Long Hair Jr., Jeremiah DeCoteau, Barry Bighorn, Golden Walking Eagle and Les Bighorn.
Honorary pallbearers will be Lida Menz, Susan Red Boy, Alice BuckElk,Mabel Foote-Bighorn, Iris Red Bear-Long Hair, Selma Andrews,Myra Dupree, Red/Johanna Smith Family, Rose Yazzie Family, Martin Family, Foote Family (Iron Cloud), all Red Eagle Ladies Aide members, Synod of Lakes and Prairies Presbyterian Women U.S.A., Dakota Presbytery Presbyterian women, Dr. Stanley Gallagher and all the Northeast Care Center staff of Rosholt, South Dakota.
Cahill Funeral Chapel, Sisseton, South Dakota and Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel, Wolf Point, Montana are entrusted with arrangements.