FORT
BELKNAP-Neoma Longknife Abbott, 73, a retired Nurse and
Family Planner for
Fort
Belknap
, died Saturday, October 31, at the
Northern
Montana
Hospital
in Havre of natural causes.
Wake services will be Monday, Nov. 2, at
Red
Whip
Community Center
in
Fort
Belknap
. Funeral services will be 11:00 A.M. Tuesday, November 3, at the
Seventh
Day
Adventist
Church
on
Rodeo Drive
at
Ft.
Belknap
with Pastor Jim Jenkins officiating. Burial will be at the
McCabe
Family
Cemetery
at Three Buttes. Kirkwood Funeral Home of Malta is in charge of
arrangements. Condolences for the family may be left at www.kirkwoodfuneralhome.com.
She is survived by children Micheal
(Michelle) McCabe of Fort Belknap, Jodi Abbott of
Washington
D.C.
, Shane (Shane) Abbott of Fort Belknap, Thomas Paul (Jamie) McCabe III
of
Fort
Belknap
, and Coby Abbott of Ronan. Siblings LeRoy Longknife (
Fort
Belknap
), Lyle Cochran (
Fort
Belknap
), Ella Moore (
Fort Yates
,
N.D.
), Eunice Augustine (
Fort
Belknap
), and Marie Birdtail (
Lodgepole
,
MT
), and all her grandchildren. Special mention of daughter in law
Michele Sears who has been a part of the family for many years but
took a lot of the responsibility for Neoma’s care in the last two
years.
She was proceeded in death by her Husband
Thomas Paul McCabe Sr. and Son Thomas Paul McCabe Jr. siblings,
Wilburn Longknife, Lena Longknife, and Katheryn Ereaux.
Neoma Longknife Abbott(73)is one of seven
children born on Feburary 28, 1936, to Roy Longknife and Rose
Oneman Longknife. She grew up in the Beaver Creek area of the
Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. In 1957 Neoma married her soul
mate Thomas Paul McCabe Sr., due to an accident lost him in 1965.
Married twice and through these unions she had four children, Michael,
Thomas, Jodi and Shane. She raised two grandchildren as her own
Thomas McCabe III and Coby Abbott. She has also raised numerous
children as an aunt and a Foster Parent. Neoma was also a very
loving aunt and became very close with many of her nieces and nephews
who called her “Aunt Babe”. Finally, she was a very doting
grandmother, who was very close to all of her grandchildren.
Neoma’s family was very important to
her. She enjoyed following her children and grandchild through
all of life’s challenges and experiences. Rodeo, Basketball,
Softball, and running were enjoyment throughout her life while proudly
watching her children and grandchildren. She was well known for
being an active runner and health advocate. She participated in
many running competitions and thoroughly enjoyed living a healthy
lifestyle.
She has also been actively involved as a member of the
Seventh
Day
Adventist
Church
since the late seventies. In addition to advocating for god and
church she was able to assist in recruiting and starting a Seventh Day
Adventist Church for the Fort Belknap Community which brought her
great joy. She was very passionate about her religion as a
Seventh Day Adventist. Her faith was a very strong and an
important factor in her decision making in life’s course.
Neoma’s early life was spent in
Las Vegas
,
Nevada
and in 1978 she decided to return to
Fort
Belknap
. Neoma began a career in the health field first as a Community
Health Representative and later as the Family Planner through the Fort
Belknap Tribal Health Department. She also trained and became a
Dialysis Technician. This began a yearning to become a nurse and
in 1993 graduated from
Salish
Kootenai
College
with a nursing degree. Neoma pioneered advocacy around
violence in American Indian Communities and became an agent for change
on issues surrounding domestic abuse in American Indian Communities.
She was very instrumental in the planning and development of the first
Domestic Violence Shelter at
Fort
Belknap
. Neoma loved to travel and in the last ten years began
traveling with her great friends to areas such as
Alaska
and
Mexico
. She and her girls known as the Golden Girls would save and plan for
these trips that brought her so much joy.
