Rae Anne McKenzie

Rae Anne McKenzie, 68, of Red Lake died Friday, December 23, 2011 at the Red Lake Indian Hospital.

Funeral Viewing will be 2:00 pm Thursday, December 29, 2011 at the Red Lake Community Center in Red Lake with spiritual leader Collins Oakgrove. A wake will begin on Tuesday at the Red Lake Center and will continue until the time of the service on Thursday. Interment will be at the Family Burial Grounds in Red Lake under the direction of the Cease Family Funeral Home of Bemidji.

Rae Anne was born January 2, 1943 at the Red Lake Hospital, the daughter of William McKenzie and Frieda Anderson. She lost her mother to tuberculosis as a toddler. She was raised and educated at boarding schools at Pipestone and Wahpeton. She was thankful for the time she spent with her grandmother Linda McKenzie Sullivan. She was sent to Delano, MN when she was 14 years old and she graduated from high school there in 1960. She moved to the Twin Cities where she worked as a legal secretary. She worked hard as a single mother to educate herself. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis with an AA degree and a paralegal certificate and after 12 years received her B.A. in American Indian Studies in 1990. She was proud to be able to spend much time with her daughter, while working hard to develop relationships in the legal profession doing freelance work for many law firms. She retired in 2005. She was happy to return back to Red Lake in 2006 eventually to a new home where she had lived since. She enjoyed movies, art, computer games, crossword puzzles, reading and music.

She is survived by her daughter- Raina McKenzie of Red Lake Special daughter- Marguerite Hoerst of Minnetonka, MN 3 cousins- Nathan “Joe” Head, Karen Neadeau and Mary Head all of Red Lake and extended family and special grandchildren She was preceded in death by her parents, grandmother- Linda McKenzie Sullivan, step grand father- Murphy Sullivan, brother- William Joseph McKenzie, sister- Phyllis Carol McKenzie-Prinsen and cousin Roger “Bucky” Head.

Honorary Casketbearers will be Bonnie Jourdain, Becky Jourdain, Jennifer Jourdain, Jennifer Johnson, Danielle Nelson, Joelyn Hart and Bev Neadeau. Active Casketebearers will be Ron McKenzie, Lawrence Head, James King, Sr., James King, Jr., Joseph Jourdain and Michael Jourdain.