Mavis McGhee

Mavis LeMarie Harrison-Voice McGhee, 63, of Fort Thompson, passed away Monday, November 26, 2018, surrounded by her family, at Sanford Chamberlain Medical Center in Chamberlain.

Funeral service were held at 1:00 p.m., Friday, November 30, 2018 at Diamond Willow Church in Fort Thompson. Two-night wake services were held at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 28 and Thursday, November 29, all at the church. Burial followed in the Harrison Family Cemetery at Bad Nation, SD.

Mavis was born May 25, 1955 to Arlene (Harrison) Voice and Marvin Medicine Crow SR. She was adopted by William “Jiggy” Voice II. She was the 3rd oldest of 15 children. Mavis attended grade school at Ft. Thompson elementary and Crow Creek High School, graduating in May of 1973. She was honored to carry the title of Miss Crow Creek and being the 4th runner up of Miss Indian World in 1974.

On December 15, 1978, she was united in marriage to Quintin McGhee and to this union, three children were born: LaCosta (Kenneth G) McGhee of Ft Thompson, SD, Quintin HT (Allison) McGhee of Crow Creek, SD, and Frank (Faith) McGhee of Edmond, Ok; two adopted children: Alana McGhee of Chamberlain, SD, and Shawna (Matthew) Sherman of Chamberlain, SD, as well as her Hunka daughter Shannon Shields of Ft Thompson. She also raised numerous foster kids and her main man, her grandson, Bentley Lane. She was also a second mother especially to Williamette Langdeau-Voice of Ft Thompson, SD, to all her nieces and nephews, and to many others. 

She had various jobs throughout Fort Thompson. Serving as a librarian at the high school was her first job, then she started working as a teachers’ aide at Crow Creek Elementary. She was the director of the Crow Creek Housing Authority and the Finance Department at the Lode Star Casino. She also worked various positions at the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Finance Department until 2012, after which time she was the busiest unemployed woman ever.

Her hobbies included making ribbons, sewing, collecting eagles and angels. She really enjoyed doing the Toys for Tots on the Crow Creek Reservation. Most importantly, she loved raising her grandchildren as they came into her life. The little ones are the ones she lived for.

She enjoyed working with Dr. and Mrs. Wes Peterson and the congregation at Trinity Presbyterian Lutheran Church of Rochester, Minnesota at the cemetery repairing headstones, mowing and plotting out the graves on a grid for computer programming. She had worked with the Diversity Foundation from Winona, Minnesota for over 15 years, bringing presents for all the children on our reservation with the help of Mr. Lyle Rustad, Diversity Foundation coordinator and Toys for Tots. She will be greatly missed. She started dialysis in Pierre in 2012 and just this year she started going to dialysis in Chamberlain.

Mavis is survived by her children; three sisters: Teresa Voice, Natalie Voice and Donna (Monte) Voice, all of Ft Thompson; six brothers: Ted (Val) Voice, Erick (Brenda) Voice SR, Willard “Boxcar” (Deidra) Voice, Oren Voice, William (Buffy) Voice, and Marvin Medicine Crow JR, all of Ft. Thompson and Bruce (Shawna) Moss of Logan, Utah; uncle, Roland St John, and aunts Pauline Zephier and Alsephine Joseph.

Proceeding her in death her mother, Arlene Rose Voice; father, William “Jiggy” Voice; sisters: Geraldine Rose Harrison-McBride and Willamette “Tiny” Voice; brothers: Thomas Voice, Ira Voice, baby boy Voice, and Marlow Medicine Crow SR; aunt, Elizabeth “Libby” Day; uncle, Everett Harrison; grandma and grandpa Voice; and great-grandmother, Rose Good Left.

Luze Funeral Home of Highmore has been entrusted with Mavis' arrangements.