Opal Cynthia (Whiteshield) Chavez

Funeral Services for Opal Chavez, 80, Bessie resident will be held 2:00 P.M., Thursday, April 22, 2021 in the Cheyenne/Arapaho Community Building east of Clinton, officiated by Jay Mule and under the direction of the Kiesau-Lee Funeral Home. A private burial will follow in the Clinton Indian Cemetery. A wake service will be held 6:00 P.M. till 8:00 P.M. Wednesday, April 21, 2021 in the Community Building. Opal Cynthia (Whiteshield) Chavez was born July 16, 1940 to Rudolph Whiteshield and Daisy (Fletcher) Whiteshield in Concho, Oklahoma and passed away April 19, 2021 in her Bessie, OK home. Opal was raised in Watonga, OK and attended the Concho Indian Boarding School for eight years. She transferred to Bayfield High School in Ignacio, CO and graduated in 1958. She made her home in El Paso, TX and Colorado before marrying Gerald Chavez on April 13, 1964 in Chicago, IL. They made their home in Chicago until 1971and then moved to Cochiti Pueblo, NM. Mr. Chavez preceded her in death in 2015. She moved back to Oklahoma in 2016 and married Patrick Spottedwolf on February 4, 2018 in Geary, OK. She worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Accounting Department in Albuquerque, NM and retired in 1996. She was an active member of the Catholic Church when married to Mr. Chavez. He served as a deacon and they ministered to the Marriage Enrichment Program and the Precana Program. She loved to bowl, Native American dancing and going to the Casino. She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Gerald Chavez in 2015; three brothers, Jerry Behan, Charles Behan and Daniel Behan and two grandchildren, Farrell Keith Tenorio and Dwayne Charles Cleveland. She is survived by her husband, Patrick Spottedwolf, of the home; two daughters, Karen Louise Nieto, of NM and Debra Sue All Runner and husband, Frederic, of Geary, OK; son, Marty Chavez, of NM and sister, Margaret Behan, Calumet, OK. She is also survived by nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.