Noreen Mae Wolf Child

Noreen Wolf Child
Ksiiskana’paissapii
December 2, 1960 – December 6, 2024

“Ika’kiimaat” – Try hard… try hard for your children, love each other, and never give up. I love you. ~ Mom”

Our family is heartbroken, as we announce the peaceful passing of our cherished mother and grandmother, Noreen Wolf Child on December 6, 2024, in Lethbridge, Alberta; at the age of 64 years. It brings comfort knowing that her loving husband Edmund and son Kelsey were welcoming her with open arms.

Noreen will be sadly missed by her children; Cindy, Leon (Tara), Tracy (Armond), Lisa (Larz), Bradford, Amber (Denise), Brianne (Justin) and her Baby girl Kiara Mag, Grandchildren; Tucker, Wyatt, Connelly, Tyra, Liam, Cassidy (JR), Nomi (Wilfred), Tyson (Jes), Jagger, Jarrett, Karli, Shada, Stylin, Daya, Brielle, Grady, Damon, Eva, Eisley, Aleah, Kelsey, Kerry, Illianna, and her two babies Elliah and Zeanna. Noreen was also a great grandmother who loved and cherished her great grandchildren. She is survived by her Siblings; Frances Many Bears (whom she lovingly called her baby sis), Laura Yellow Feet, Brittany Spotted Bull, Ricky (Geraldine) White Man Left, Daniel (Bobbi) White Man Left, Melvin White Man Left, Norma Russell, Tom (Sandra) Russell, Maria Russell, Jim (Joyce) Russell, Lisa Rose (Delvin) No Runner, Karl Russell, Sister-In-Laws; Geraldine (Richard) Wells, Stella Wolf Child, Theresa (Alphonse) Red Crow, Joyce Wolf Child, Brother-In-Law; Gilbert (Shirley) Wolf Child, Godson; Terrance Many Bears, Stepfather; Sam Day Chief, Adopted Children; Mikki Creighton, Crystal Starlight, Lynsey Own Chief, Chantel (Billy) Heavy Runner, Tanya (Lance) Wolf Child, Lorna Day Chief, Heather Wolf Child, Daisy Day Chief, and Dalton Eagle Bear. Adopted Sisters; Delia Many Chief, Patti Mountain Horse, Georgia Good Striker, late Geri Twigg and two grand dogs; Olive and Coco. Noreen comes from a large immediate and extended family.

Mom was born at the Blood Indian Hospital and in her early years she was raised in the Bullhorn and Headquarters area where she had resided with her bio mother, Odile. And later, in the Standoff community and various areas of the Blood Reserve with her father and mother Alphonse and Theresa White Man Left. Noreen first started Day School at the St. Mary’s Kindergarten School until grade 3, then went to the Residential School until grade 6, she then later went to Cardston and St. Mary’s for her high school years. Noreen attended the Lethbridge College and graduated with her diploma in the Early Childhood Education program.

Noreen met the love of her life, Edmund Wolf Child and had inherited 4 beautiful children – Kerry, Cindy, Robbie and Leon; she never considered herself a stepmother but their mom. They began building their life and soon came along Kelsey, then Tracy, Lisa and Brad. Noreen and Edmund were married on July 4, 1986, and celebrated every anniversary with their family, sometimes going to spend their anniversary state side watching the fireworks. Noreen and Edmund were both devout Catholics and attended church on Sundays, and both enjoyed their traditional way of life and respected our culture very much. Both, Noreen and Edmund raised a few of their grandchildren together and considered them children rather than grandkids – which included Amber, Brianne, Daylen and Kiara, after Edmund’s passing in 2010; Noreen continued raising their kipiitapookaiiks alone, and eventually along came Liam. They had transferred into the “Itskinaiks”, along with their partner Johnny Bare Shin Bone and were a part of the Bull Horn Society group, their Leaders at the time were Travis Plaited Hair and Veronica Calf Robe. Noreen and Edmund were keepers of their bundle for 11 years. Noreen and Edmund became very close friends with their holy brothers and sisters, Roger Prairie Chicken, Charlene Plume, Shane and Sherri Little Bear, they often spent time visiting and sharing some good laughs, telling stories and making jokes to each other. They also called upon each other in times of need or prayers.

Mom was loving, nurturing and a protector. She had unyielding kindness and generosity, even with little to spare she very generously continued to give and help others, all the time. She never faltered in caring for her loved ones more than she did for herself. If she was able to help in any situation, she did. She often gave the greatest advice and showered and sheltered her children in such a positive way. She provided guidance in valuable life lessons and passed those on to her children instilling respect, morals and values. Mom always let you know that she loved you. Mom was a great hand holder, she loved to hold hands, her soft hands always made her children and grandchildren feel safe and comforted. Noreen took very good care of her family; she often spoiled them by trying to do everything for them. She was our superhero. Mom was a very strong individual and was one a one-of-a-kind person, whatever life had thrown at her, she often held her head up high and walked with such grace. Mom had a special bond with each of her children and spent time some time with them whether it was in riding horses in past years, Calgary with Cindy and the girls or stopped in at the Sundance with Leon and his family, she was proud of him and Tara for joining the Horn Society, or she was often just hanging out with Brianne and Kiara telling stories. She was especially proud of her son Brad and his plumbing company that he named after his dad, “Gumby’s Plumbing”. She was not fond of Edmund’s nickname but would laugh about it. She was Brad’s bookkeeper, sometimes secretary and even sometimes parts pick up person and would drive around with plumbing parts in her vehicle. She deeply missed Kelsey, Kerry and Robbie and often thought about them and prayed to them.

Noreen took her role as a grandmother to heart, she lived and breathed for her grandchildren and was very much involved in their everyday lives, their sports and their activities. She always made sure she knew of everyone’s schedules and tried her best to be there to cheer them all on. Grandma Noreen was a loud cheerleader, she got so into the games, her grandchildren would hear their names being yelled out loud in the stands. She often would be videoing their plays and when we watch her recordings back, they were all over the place, the floor, past the play and once she noticed the camera was not recording where she wanted, she would shuffle it back to the play again. All her grandchildren knew that “Grandma would be there showing her support”. She traveled many miles to watch their games, helped drive them to their games and always encouraged her grandchildren to do their best at everything. Grandma Noreen always made sure that her grandchildren were okay, if Grandma was feeling sad, she would put her own feelings aside and attended to her grandchildren. Grandma always gave the best hugs. She always told the kids that she was proud of them, that that they were so special, and they meant a lot to her. “Ika’kiimaat and I love you, is what she always said”. She was always so proud of all their accomplishments. Mom was always on the go, if she happened to meet up with her grandchildren and they asked her “grandma, can I go with you… they surely knew what that answer would be “yes, jump in” and they would. She never said No.

Mom was always on the go every weekend, if she wasn’t off to sporting games, it was either taking random drives here and there, visiting friends, she never sat still for very long. Mom liked travelling and visited places including, Las Vegas, Florida, Hawaii, Nashville, Arizona, New York among other places. She often had taken annual trips to Lac St. Anne with the family. She and her parents, Alphonse and Theresa took a trip and visited the Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Mexico City and shared stories of her trip about the bull fights there. She often talked about her trip and her visit to Graceland, she found herself just exploring the grounds, and at one point throughout the tour was crying in the garden. She had started to wonder where her friends/co-workers went, she fell far behind while just looking around and just taking everything in and later met up with them at the entrance, and was asked “where did you go, we almost left you”. She went on a school trip with her daughters, Tracy and Lisa to Orlando Florida to visit the NASA space camp. This was a fun trip, she got the girls and their friends to make a line dancing music video while belting out the song “Fishing in the Dark”, she often asked where this video went, little did she know that Tracy hid the video when she got older, as she did not want her to show anyone because it was quite embarrassing.

Noreen’s employment included being a Daycare Director/Supervisor for numerous years, she later moved onto teaching 3-year-olds in the head start program. Mom loved her job and was a devoted HeadStart Instructor and enjoyed all the children, she was caring and an inspiration for her students and co-workers whom she cherished deeply. Her classroom was a space where every child felt supported and empowered to reach their full potential. Noreen was often called Grandma by many children. She will be remembered for her unwavering dedication to teaching, infectious enthusiasm, and the profound impact she made on the lives of her little students. Mom enjoyed working with her Supervisor, Jacinta Fox for many years. She often considered JC, a very good friend and a supportive co-worker. She made friends wherever she went, young or old, she considered them a friend. People often recalled mom to be kind, compassionate, funny, easy to talk to and always had a smile on her face. Not only did her children and grandchildren adore her, but so did her friends. She became close to Malina, Audrey, Shirley, Brenda, Heather, Shawn, and Sherri.

Her favorite past time hobbies and interests included horse racing with Edmund and the family, travelling the horse racing circuit, winning numerous races and memorials, having various other thoroughbred racing horses, as well as having one of their thoroughbred pride horses – Present Trend win “Horse of the Year.” Noreen and Edmund were especially happy to own and train “Nisqually Slew”, grandsire to Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. Sometimes Noreen would joke that the horses were better taken care of than our own family. When she was younger, she liked playing sports, she was a very good baseball player and liked back catching (maybe that is where her grandson Grady got his skills from), she was a very crafty person in anything whether it be at home or in the classroom. Mom loved attending some concerts, played a bit of bingo, and a lot of casino. Mom and Dad were the Manager and Head Coach of the Kainai Lady Hawks female hockey team along with Ike and Gerri Eagle Speaker. This bunch was a rough and tough team and loved travelling to various hockey tournaments. Mom didn’t like team fundraisings so much but did it for the girls. She was often always in the hockey rink also shivering from the cold and cheering on Brad, Amber and Brianne’s hockey teams. Mom was an avid Calgary Flames fan, enjoyed going to the games and giving you a high-five which was often followed by a “woo” cheer. Mom was also a big Elvis fan, had poster size pictures and memorabilia in her bedroom, sometimes Edmund would say, I wake up and see nothing but Elvis staring at me, often telling Noreen to take some down. She was once gifted a life size Elvis cutout that she put in the back porch area by the door. One time it was really windy and Elvis was rocking back and forth by the door and Mom would hear knocking and was wondering who was at the door, she would go check and then go back to what she was doing, until after a few times of checking, she went to check both doors and figured out that it was just Elvis knocking on the door.

Noreen was predeceased by her Husband Edmund Wolf Child, Children; Kelsey Wolf Child, Kerry Day Chief, and Robbie Day Chief, Parents; Odile Day Chief (nee Young Pine), James (Lena) Russell, Alphonse and Theresa White Man Left, Grandparents; Joe and May Young Pine, Tom and Cecile Russell, John Sr. and Mary Many Chief, Grandchildren; Josey Day Rider, Daylen Day Chief, Baby Kerry Day Chief, Brother; Delbert Young Pine, Robert Russell, Curtis White Man Left, Sister-In-Laws; Martha Wolf Child, Bella Wolf Child, Catherine Black White Man, Josephine Vielle, Brother-In-Laws; William Many Bears Jr., Martin and Samuel Wolf Child. 

This past year was a tough year for mom, she went to emergency room and was brought to Calgary and had a procedure done that had lasting complications that directly impacted her health. We had a few scary moments with her health, but each time mom showed strength and resiliency. Mom never lost her faith and continued praying each day. While being in pain every day, she kept on for her children and grandchildren. Noreen’s passing has left a huge void in our hearts, we will forever and ever miss her, and every day we will think of her and share wonderful stories of her and her life. She will be deeply missed by all that knew her. The family would like to thank all that kept Noreen in their prayers, sent well wishes and for all the love that was sent her way. We are grateful. 

The family apologizes for any names that may have been missed, as mom had a lot of family and friends.  

A Family Service will be held at 4:00PM on Monday, December 16, 2024, at Eden’s Funeral Home, 2424 – 5 Avenue, Fort Macleod. Following the Family Service, a Wake Service will be held from 6:00PM-11:00PM at Gladstone Hall, Blood Tribe.

A Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00AM on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Blood Tribe. Following the service, Noreen will be laid to rest at the family plot.

The family invites friends and relatives to join them at Gladstone Hall following the Graveside Service for a feast.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Noreen Mae Wolf Child, please visit our floral store.