Our Dad & Papa was born in Poplar, MT on November 14, 1958 to Frank & Mary (Two Eagle) Gourneau, Sr. Frank was an enrolled member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes. When Frank was a kid his friends in Wolf Point called him “Jaqalaut”, his family called him “Son”, and his Poplar High School friends called him, “Bogart” (go figure), but the majority of his life he was called “Dad” & “Papa.” Frank passed away on February 8 th , 2023 after a hard battle with pancreatic cancer, he was 64 years old.
Frank lived and attended school in Wolf Point, MT until he entered the 8 th grade when he moved to Poplar, MT. He would always talk about his escapades with his friends and family in Wolf Point, the Azure boys and girls, Duane Garfield, Rick McGeshick, Cheeseburger Granbois, and many others, but especially his best friend & brother, Jerry Moran. Frank was an outstanding athlete, his “no-hitter” game being a story he loved telling the kids….many times over. Frank excelled in track & field, wrestling, baseball, basketball, and especially in football. He won many local & State awards. He always said, “I loved to practice and never missed one.” Frank was an avid Vikings fan and whenever a game was on, no matter the team, everyone was silent, except Frank. If you ever witnessed him at any sporting event you know!
Frank and Haven met in high school, married in 1979, and for the next 47 years raised 6 children and 4 grandchildren together (he loved telling anyone who would listen about the 47 years and that Haven was still playing Barbie dolls when he met her). Haven always said, maybe I was but Ken & Barbie were having babies by that time. These two loved to argue; it wasn’t a true day if they didn’t squabble at least once. It usually started with Frank and his relentless teasing. Frank never went a day without calling each and every one of his kids and his wife several times a day and everyone else whose number he had; he carried two phones so that he could call two at a time and he would find something for them to do, he loved being in charge. Everyone had to drop what they were doing and do his bidding. Frank loved to visit, reminisce and tell stories about his youth, his Grandmother Emma and Great-grandmother Theresa, and his aunts & uncles. He would get a thrill out of telling the kids, “Ask your Mom, and he would mimic the old ladies saying, “Frankie….you’re a baaad, baaad boy!,” then he would laugh and laugh. For 20 years he would wear his short, short 1970s high school basketball trunks and blue raggedy tank top outside to water the grass and every year the kids would come running in and say, “Mom, tell Dad to knock it off and quit wearing those shorts, everyone is driving by and staring at him!”
Frank served on the Fort Peck Tribal Executive council and had a great love and concern for his community and especially for the kids. His one wish was that the kids in Poplar had a new outdoor swimming pool. Frank spent his life working in construction and even as an adult loved playing in the dirt. Frank owned and operated his first company, Three Feathers, and then Gourneau Construction, building roads, hauling material, demolition, and everything else having to do with trucks and equipment. If you saw Frank, you saw Jonzie. His Tonka toys were big boys!
Frank was preceded in death by his father, Frank L. Gourneau, Sr., grandmother Emma (Two Eagle) Pizana, Uncle Larry & Aunt Jeanette Gourneau, Uncle’s Stanley & Timothy Gourneau, Uncle Andrew Azure, Aunt Judy (Gourneau) & Uncle Eugene Delonias, Aunt Anna Mae (Gourneau) & Uncle Freddie Laducer, special cousin Davey Gourneau, and nephews Dalton & Tyrone Gourneau.
Frank is survived by his wife Haven Jo (McClammy) Gourneau, son’s Frank (Bosh) & Connor Gourneau, daughters Mauri, Tessy & Sidney (Bug) Gourneau, daughter Rainey (Matt) Azure, mother Mary Ellen Gourneau, brothers Greg, Caleb & Terrence (Leslie) Gourneau, Sr., sisters Roxanne & Gwen Gourneau, cousin/sister Chic (Gary) Robinson, Aunt Sharon Ballow, Aunt’s Carol, Maxine, & Rainey Gourneau, Aunt Tammy Azure, Uncle/Dad Lee (Alfreda) Gourneau, grandsons Dusette (BooBoo), Luthor, Ivan, Ashton (Brother), Kaison, Matthew, Huntyn, & Gunner (Gun Bunz), granddaughters Kylie May (Cupcake), Havie, Blessing, Kali, Kaci, Journey (Tiny), Frankie, Hanley (Hammy), Jerzey (Blue), & Mattie, Godson Terrence Gourneau Jr., special children & grandchildren Michelle, Taylor, Jordan & Bailey Day, Renee (Greg) Boswell, & Jason (Tabitha) Gourneau, special brothers Wayne Jones, Troy Perry, Harley Nesham, Wayne Sandau & Dana Comeslast, special sisters, Gracie Pipe & as he called her, his sister from high school, Chrissy (Grainger) Brand, and many nieces and nephews.
A Rosary will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Poplar, Montana. The funeral will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 16, 2023 at the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Poplar, Montana. Interment will follow at Poplar City Cemetery.
Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel has been entrusted with arrangements. Condolences for the family may be left using the form below.