Russell Redlightning, Marty
Russell Redlightning, 56, Marty died Friday, Feb. 26, 2010 at the Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls
Russell Redlightning, 56, Marty died Friday, Feb. 26, 2010 at the Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls
Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Community Center in Marty, with burial in the Presbyterian Cemetery, rural Greenwood. Wake services will be held at the Center. Crosby-Jaeger Funeral Home in Wagner is handling the arrangements.
He was born October 19, 1953 to Estelle (Kezena) and the late Orville Redlightning, Sr.
He attended Central Grade School in Waukegan, Ill. up to the eighth grade. His parents moved back to South Dakota in 1966 and he attended Ravinia High School during his freshman year and then he went to boarding school and attended Todd County High School in Mission his sophomore year. He came back home to finish his two remaining years of high school at St. Pauls Indian Mission (now Marty Indian School) and graduated with the class of 1972.
He attended higher education at Haskell Indian Junior College in Lawrence, Kan. where he graduated with an Associates Arts Degree in Liberal Arts.
After graduating, he moved back to Marty where he worked for the Yankton Sioux Tribe in various positions. He was a police dispatcher before becoming a Tribal police officer and then a Bureau of Indian Affairs police officer.
He served on the Tribal Council for two terms (1981-1983) and (1991-1993) and was one of the longest serving board members for Marty Indian School Board (1983-1991) and (1993-2003).
He worked at the Wagner Food Center, as a Dialysis Patient Driver for the State of South Dakota and as a security guard at the Fort Randall Casino.
He married Pam Dirksen in June of 1979.
He is survived by four children: Christopher and wife Rachel Redlightning, Sr., Grand Island, Neb; Charisse Redlightning, Yankton; Bethann Standing Cloud and husband Todd, Marty; and Becca Redlightning, Yankton; eight grandchildren; his mother; three brothers: Michael and wife Marilyn, Wagner; Gerald and wife Rolene, Lake Andes; and Edward, Marty; one sister Tracey Redlightning, Marty; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his father; three brothers: Orville (Fud), Jr.; Sherman Keith; and Jeffery Adam; one sister, Terri Jo; paternal grandparents: Winnie (Hare) and Martin Redlightning; and maternal grandparents: Alice (Gullickson) and Fred Kezena, Sr.
Tags: russell redlightning, obituaries, marty
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