Clarice Vieux

Betty “Clarice” Vieux, 56 year-old, lifelong Saint Louis resident passed from this life on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at her home.  She was born August 28, 1957 in Seminole, Oklahoma to parents Charles Franklin “Charlie” Vieux and Mary Elizabeth (Holmes) Vieux. Clarice attended Saint Louis Elementary School until the 8th grade and graduated from Maud High School in 1976.  She went on to continue her education attending two years of college. Clarice was a member of the Saint Louis Round-up Club where she had been very active and even served as Rodeo Queen.  In High School she was involved in many activities including basketball and several other school organizations.  She also loved to play league softball.  Clarice was also a member of the Saint Louis First Baptist Church where she had accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior and was baptized as a teenager. Clarice, a Citizen Potawatomi Nation enrolled citizen, was a long-standing employee of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe.  She began working with the tribe in 1974.  Her first job with the tribe was as a Court Clerk.  In 1994 she began working for the Tribal Administrator as his Administrative Assistant.  Clarice was instrumental in helping establish the Tribe’s court system and in 1997 through the current date she worked in a dual capacity as an Administrative Assistant and B.I.A. Specialist.  She was a dedicated advocate for self-determination and self-governance and was with the Tribe during the infancy stage of implementing these programs under P.I. 93-638, as amended, known as the Indian Self-Determination Education Assistance Act.  Clarice was currently working under Governor of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, B. Edwina Butler-Wolfe. Clarice was part of 12 Tribal Administrations at the Absentee Shawnee Tribe.  She began her work when John Sloat was Governor and was here to see the second woman leader be elected and placed in Office. Clarice leaves to cherish her memory her son, Jessie Williams and his wife Cassie of Earlsboro, Oklahoma; two sisters, Teresa Vieux of Tecumseh, Oklahoma, Charlene Killian of Saint Louis, Oklahoma; four grandchildren, Gavin Williams, Alexis Frantz, Jaxon Williams, and Jesslyn Williams; by her first husband and the father of her son, Frank Williams and his wife Susan of Maud, Oklahoma; she is also survived by a host of other family and dear friends. Clarice was preceded in death by her parents, Charlie and Mary Vieux, one brother, Nick Vieux, one sister Elizabeth “Beth” Vieux, Clarice’s former husband, Freddie Murdock, and one brother-in-law, Dewayne Thorpe. Funeral services are scheduled for 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, October 16, 2013 at the First Baptist Church of Saint Louis, Oklahoma with Pastor Glenn Peck officiating the service.   Dub Howell will provide Tribal music.  Interment will follow at Sacred Heart Cemetery near Konawa. Pallbearers will be, Cody Williams, Randy Killian, Evan Murry, Bobby Armstrong, Joe Ray Milburn, and Rob Milburn. Honorary Bearers will be, Frank Williams, Donnie Jordan, Nobie Lowden, Mike Hunter, and Isaac Gibson. Services are under the direction of Knight-Swearingen Funeral Home in Maud, Oklahoma.  Phone 405-374-2424.   Funeral Information: October 16, 2013, 11:00 AM First Baptist Church - Saint Louis located at Hwy 59, Saint Louis, OK 74866