Phillip White Clay Jr.

HARDIN - Phillip White Clay Jr., 46, died Aug. 14, 2007, in the St. Vincent Hospital.
He was born Dec. 11, 1960, in Crow Agency, a son of Phillip and Vera Ann House White Clay Sr. He grew up in the Crow Agency area and attended school in St. Xavier and the Utah Intermountain Indian Boarding School. While in school, he participated in basketball and cross-country.
Phillip married Carol Jean Bear Below on Aug. 10, 2003, and the couple made their home in Hardin.
He was a member of the Black Lodge Church and the House of Hope, a member of the Big Lodge Clan and was a child of the Ties the Bundle Clan. He was a traditional singer who sang with the Wranglers. He enjoyed caring for his Kaala Mae and Uncle Raymond's cattle.
Phillip was a wild lands firefighter for 18 years and was a member of the Crow Helitac Fire Fighting Unit. He received specialized training in Missoula.
He was a humble and quiet man who cherished the time he could spend with his family.
His baby son White Clay, his father and brothers, Monte White Clay and Alvin Bull Calf, paternal grandparents Vernon and Fannie Stewart White Clay and maternal grandparents Franklin and Mae Morning House preceded Phillip in death.
Survivors include his wife Carol; his daughters, Nancy (Jaymeson) White Clay, Miranda (Wesley) Stops, Jr. and Chantell White Clay; his sons, Ramsey (Cindy) White Clay and Anthony Lyle Bear Below; his mother, Vera White Clay; stepdaughters, Alberta (Lance) Tobacco, Christine and Joyce Wilson; stepsons, Ivan (Christianne) and James (Allyn) Wilson; his sisters, Veronica, Clydine White Clay, Rachel (Fred) Beatty, Rebecca Buffalo, Rebecca (Calvin Jr.) Jefferson, Verna (Franklin) Jefferson, Dawna (Robert) Nelson and Celisa Jefferson; brothers, Videl (Susan), Merritt (Karen) and Franklin (Rebekah) White Clay, John and Raymond House; adopted sisters, Francine (John) Small, Davine Morrison, Phylene Big Man, Annie Ricon, Elsie (Larry) Dooley, Claudia (Tim) Bernardis, Lonora and Ann Bull Calf; adopted brothers, Dean Buffalo, Roger (Doreen) Nelson, William and Lance House, Gordon Lincoln, Henry Old Horn, Manuel Goode, Richard Bowen, Taylor, Joe and Vernon White Clay III; adopted parents, Harriet Begaye, Fred and Phyllis Bull Calf; special niece Peggy White Clay; numerous aunts and uncles; 15 grandchildren, including RaCinda, Harmony, Tushiya, Lattrell; as well as his extended family, including the Stiff Arm, Bradley, Capture, Fox, Shortman, Stewart, White, Morrison, House Morning, Three Irons, Beaver-Muskrat, Hang Up the Meat, Crooked Face Child, Top Sky, Standing Rock, Stump, Weasel Boy, Windy Boy, Denny and Armajo.
Funeral services will be held 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, in Bullis Mortuary in Hardin. Interment will follow in the Crow Agency Cemetery. Bullis Mortuary of Hardin has been entrusted with the arrangements.

This obituary was originally published in the Billings Gazette.