Minnie Ruth Harjo

Minnie Ruth Harjo , age 89 and a resident of Konawa, Oklahoma, passed away Thursday, April 30, 2020 at Chickasaw Nation Medical Center in Ada, Oklahoma.

A funeral service will be planned at a later time.  Burial will be at Vamoosa Cemetery, and the funeral will be under the direction of Swearingen Funeral Home of Konawa.

Minnie was born April 23, 1931 in Seminole County to Putkeh Harjo and Ada (Caesar) Harjo.  She graduated from Stonewall High School and was a member of the Seminole Nation.  She married Robert Harjo October 14, 1949 in Wewoka, Oklahoma.  Minnie worked as a Census Taker and was also the Secretary for the Seminole Nation Tribal Offices under Chief Floyd Harjo.  She also served on the Board of Housing Commission, and was the Secretary for Intra Tribal Business Association under Charles Grounds. Minnie served on the board for the Oklahoma Family Medical Clinic of Konawa, and as a consultant for Carl Albert, now know as the Chickasaw Nation Medical Center in Ada.  Minnie, called herself “one of the last true Matriarchs”, and she loved to play and sing for High Springs Baptist Church, and she won a secretarial award from an attorney in Seminole, Oklahoma.  Minnie loved all of her grandchildren the same amount, and she always had a smile and always made sure that you had a smile too when she met you.

She is survived by one son, Bob Harjo and his wife, Vickey; three grandchildren, Sheila Harjo, Cheri Dobbs, and Carrie Lynn Galaway; seven great grandchildren, Hunter Dobbs, Colton Dobbs, Remington Dobbs, Tanner Dobbs, Bretton Galaway, Kirsten Garza, and Hailey Lloyd; four great-great grandchildren, Payton, Aria, Brooklyn, and Carson.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; one daughter, Minetta Votaw; two sisters, Hattie Harjo and Pauline Doyle; and one brother, Thomas J. Harjo.