Donald Buck Elk, passed away at 7:30 a.m. Friday, December 11, 2015 at St. Vincent hospital in Billings, MT. He was born to Darlene Left Hand on February 23, 1959. He was raised by his grandparents, Eli and Thena Buck Elk in the Fort Kipp area. He attended Culbertson schools until he transferred to Brockton during the 2nd semester on his junior year. He graduated from Brockton on May 1977. He played basketball for the Culbertson Cowboys and the Brockton Warriors. He played for the Fort Kipp Little League soft ball team coached by the late, Nathanial Long Hair. They played in many tournaments in the area.
After graduation he attended Dawson Community College in Glendive in the fall of 1977 to May 1978. He then attended Northern Montana College in Havre for a couple of months in the fall of 1978. He returned home and worked for the HIP program for the Fort Peck Tribes in Poplar. He moved to Billings in September 1981 where he attended Billings Vocational Technical College where he received his degree in Auto Mechanics on March 1, 1984. While in Billings he joined the independent basketball team from Plenty Coups. They traveled to many tournaments. In the summer months he joined the softball team and enjoyed playing basketball and volleyball as well. He returned home and on October 19, 1991 he and Lorrian Bear were married at Red Eagle memorial Church in Fort Kipp by Rev. Simon Looking Elk. They later divorced but remained friends. In February 2005 he and Myrna Grey Hawk were married in Brockton. They later divorced. We are thankful for the life he shared with us. He will be missed not only by his family but by the countless friends over the years who took him as a dad, grandpa, and brother.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Eli and Thena Buck Elk; grandma, Susan Red Boy; uncles, Milton Buck Elk, Bernard Buck Elk, Kenneth Buck Elk, Darrel Buck Elk, Harold Buck Elk, and Michael Buck Elk; aunts, Marlene Buck Elk and Cheryl Thomas; cousins, Lida Sue Buck Elk, Emmual Buck Elk, Carmen Birdsbill, and Andrea Davis; adopted sons, Isaac and Harold Red Eagle; adopted sisters, Melvin Birthmark And friend Del Ray Smith.
He is survived by his mother, Darlene Left Hand; special granddaughter, Mandy Red Eagle of Fort Kipp; aunts, Ernestine Red Boy, Esther (Frank) Hapa, Phylis (Cedric) Praie Chief, Myrtle (Fred) Olson, Eileen Buckman of Billings, Barbara Birdsbill of Wolf Point, Bernadine (Arthur) Mandan of New Town, ND, Gloria Yankton of Fort Kipp, MT; uncles, Henry (Violet) Buck Elk, Louie (Leann) Buck Elk, Warren (Geraldine) Buck Elk of Rapid City, SD, Robert Buck Elk, Adrian Thomas of Fort Totten, Richard Thomas, and Robert Buck Elk; cousins, Michael, Ronald and Kevin Buck Elk of Billings, MT, Clayton Davis, Tiana Eder, Lesley and Latoya Buck Elk, Ashleigh Weeks, Caren Brooks, Marilyn, Joyce, Wanda, Anna, and Cynthia Thomas of Fort Totten, ND, Alysia Williamson, Carson and Michael Buck Elk of Wolf Point, Colleen and Charlene Birdsbill of Wolf Point, Nannett Davis, Tamara Firemoon, Evron Davis, Carlos Buck Elk, Bernard Erick Gideon Alan and Allie Buck Elk of Dickenson, ND, Thalia, Theresa, Darrell, Janelle, Eveth Buck Elk of Fort Kipp, Mary Follett of Poplar, Vernon and Sharon Buck Elk of Fort Kipp, Joseph and Tiffney Buck Elk of Fort Kipp, Christy and Christopher Shields, Loren Ramsey, April and Milton Buck Elk, and Darice and Sylvia Buck Elk; and grandchildren, Marshale and Hailey Buck Elk, and Mia Long Knife of Brockton; and Justice Bearcub, who he raised as his own daughter.
A wake will be held 7 p.m. Friday, December 18 at the James Black Dog Center in Fort Kipp. A funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, December 19 at the James Black Dog Center in Fort Kipp. Interment will follow at the Fort Kipp Cemetery in Fort Kipp, MT. Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel of Wolf Point has been entrusted with the arrangements. Condolences may be sent to the family by using the form below.