C. Beatrice Red Fox

C. Beatrice Red Fox, 85, of Eagle Butte, passed away Friday, January 7, 2022, at Cheyenne River Health Center, Eagle Butte.

Funeral services were held Tuesday, January 25, 2022, at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Eagle Butte.

Charlotte “Beatrice” Red Fox (“Wayang hi’ pi Win – Comes to see her”) was born March 11, 1936, to Lawrence “Grover” Red Fox and Laura His Horse is Fast at On the Tree. Bea was delivered at home by a midwife; Old Cheyenne Agency was too far to travel by team and wagon. At a young age Beatrice was given her Lakota name, “Comes to see her,” by a family whose daughter was very ill.

Bea spent her childhood along Owl Creek, along with her His Horse is Fast Tiwahe. Grover, her father, was a hired horse breaker for area ranchers. Laura, her mother, was a baker and seamstress.

Bea, her brother Steve, and cousins Virgil and John Bowker would ride 15 miles every day by horseback to Green Grass for schooling. Later on her Tiwahe and Uncle Pete His Horse is Fast moved to Green Grass, where schooling was closer.

Bea became a barrel racer with her quarter horse “Two Bit.” They became great companions. She became a rodeo queen, so for a year she traveled a lot.

Grover, Steve, Bea and Pete His Horse is Fast and Virgil and John Bowker would herd cattle for the Diamond A Cattle Company from the mouth of the Cheyenne River all the way to Pierre, spending many nights out in the open prairie with campfires for cooking.

Beatrice made her home in Promise with her lifelong friend Elmer Traversie. When Chaske was one year old they took him in as their own, until the time of his passing in 2014. That is when Beatrice moved to town and lived the rest of her life with her daughter.

Beatrice is survived by her sister, Vivian Traversie of Eagle Butte; sons Loren Anderson of Salt Lake City, UT, Adriel “Mark” Red Fox of Chadron, NE, and Murray Red Fox of Eagle Butte; daughters Rilla Noisy Hawk, Clarice Lara, and Mary Phillips, all of Eagle Butte, and Patricia Red Fox of On the Tree; 21 grandkids, 35 great-grandkids and four great-great-grandkids.

She is preceded in death by sons Baby Merle Phillips and Eldred “Jay” Red Fox; brothers Rodger, Harry and Steve Red Fox; mother Laura His Horse is Fast-Red Fox; father Lawrence “Grover” Red Fox; niece Anita Washburn; nephew Alan Red Fox, Sr.; grandsons Alan Red Fox, Jr., Matthew Red Fox, and Bennett Red Elk; great-grandson, Y’Min Brings Horse; husbands Oscar Anderson and Kermit Phillips; and longtime friend, Elmer Traversie.

Luce Funeral Home of Gettysburg was in charge of arrangements.