Naomi Renville was born April 8, 1916 near Macy, Nebraska to Melinda Cayuga Freemont and Francis Freemont, Sr. She was a member of the Omaha Nation and the Seneca Cayuga tribe of Oklahoma. She was the oldest member of both tribes. Naomi was the middle child of eleven children. She outlived all her siblings.
Naomi's early school years were at Macy and Walthill, Nebraska. She was promoted from the second grade to fourth grade. In the fifth grade she placed second in the state spelling bee. One year she attended Genoa Indian School. At the start of high school she went to Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas and graduated from there. She was going to stay at Haskell and get her business degree, but a group of ladies who were graduating were approached by the Colonial Dames of America and were asked if they were interested in attending nursing school. After consulting with her parents, she decided to go for it. She went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to attend the Pennsylvania School of Nursing at the Pennsylvania Hospital. She stayed there (had to) for two years, attending school or working on the hospital floor. Part of the deal was that these women would go back to the reservation and work amongst their people. Naomi's first duty station was Fort Yates, North Dakota. She was one of two RN's, so they worked 12 hour shifts. While at Ft. Yates she met and dated Joe Renville. Joe joined the military and was at Farragut, Idaho. During this time Naomi was transferred to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. World War II started and she told stories of seeing all the trains leaving Ft. Sill full of G.I.'s. Joe was discharged from the Navy because he contacted tuberculosis. He went to Oklahoma and asked Naomi to marry him. At that time nurses couldn't be married, so she left Oklahoma and she and Joe were married August 17, 1940 in Sioux City, Iowa. They then moved to Sisseton where she was able to get a position at the Indian Health Services. Naomi worked for the Indian Health Service for 42 years, about 40 of those years at Sisseton. Many people mentioned that they knew she had helped with their birth, it is reported she helped deliver about 2,000 babies. Naomi retired in 1980; she was the Director of Nursing by that time. After retirement from the government, she started working for the Oyate. She started working at the Tribal Elderly. After a time she was asked by the Community College to help start the nursing program because she had so much nursing experience. She continued there until a full time Master of Science nurse was hired for the position. Next, she became the coordinator of the SWO Healthy Start Program. She retired again in about 1996.
Naomi and Joe had 6 children; Robin, Grady, Bruce, Arden, Harlow and Martha. Harlow passed on in infancy and Arden was killed in Vietnam during that war.
Naomi was a member of the National American Indian Woman's Association, the National Indian Conference on Aging, the American Legion Auxiliary, an honorary lifetime member of the SWO Human Services Board and the Tribal Elderly Board. She was made an honorary member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe when Russell Hawkins was chairman. She was a Gold Star Mother.
Naomi liked to watch Price is Right, play solitaire, play bingo and slots, read the Minneapolis Tribune everyday and do the crossword puzzle.
Naomi is survived by 4 children, Robin, Grady, Bruce and Martha, 20 grandchildren, 63 great grandchildren, 20 great-great grandchildren, and many relatives in Nebraska.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Joe, two sons, one grandson, her parents, and all her brothers and sisters.
She will be dearly missed.