Honor EMT Clayton Reevis with a Proper Farewell

"Turkey"—my dad's nickname. His real name is Clayton Reevis. Dad spent his whole life serving. He was also a loving husband to his wife, Sheryl RunningCrane. She passed away 4 years ago. Broken-hearted and lonely, my dad's health began to deteriorate shortly after, and towards the end, he got worse and died from complications.

Dad was very sick. He had a series of strokes due to a clogged artery. He was also a diabetic and was on dialysis.

Dad worked his whole life. He was a wildland firefighter in his glory days, a dispatcher for the town of Browning for first responders, and he also worked different jobs throughout his life like a bingo caller and mechanic. But dad is mostly known for his service as an EMT for the town of Browning.

Dad worked hard to raise us—me, my brothers Gifford, Melford, Isaiah, and my sister Rosalla. His stepdaughter Ivy from a previous marriage to my mother, Lorretta, who also passed away more than 10 years ago. Alongside us, he also raised his stepchildren Bud and Julie, and he raised my sister's son Bradley as his own. He also helped take care of his many grandchildren and was always supportive of all his family and friends.

Dad was always helping everyone around him. Sadly, he lived in poverty in his last days as he was the main provider of the family. Living in poverty contributed to how fast his health deteriorated.

He spent his last days in and out of the hospital. This is when he had the strokes due to the clogged artery. He was able to get the surgery for it, and while he was healing, he went home. He got sick with pneumonia and was rushed to the hospital. His blood pressure rose very high, and his organs shut down.

I live almost 2 hours away from the hospital he was in. I was rushing to go see him as my sister Ivy, who sat beside him in his last days, told me that the doctors said he may not make it through the night. As my family and I were packing, we got the news that he had passed.

I was devastated, not only because he died but because there was not much I could do as I have also been financially challenged. So is the rest of our family.

It has been hard trying to gather resources and the funds to get the stuff done for the funeral. Gas is one major need, along with limited transportation.

We were able to secure some of the items necessary to give my dad a proper funeral. But funeral costs are high. Alongside the funeral, there will be a wake for the family and friends to come and pay their respects.

We are asking for donations to help with the costs for this upcoming funeral and wake. Expenses like a flower spray for the casket, which we were not able to afford as they can be kind of pricey even for the cheaper ones. We also need help with gas so his children—my brothers and sister—and our families will be able to make it as we all live 2 hours and more away. We may also need help with money for more food and cleaning supplies for the building we are using for the wake.

But we are not giving up, but sadly we are out of funds to go any further. Please help us in honoring our father by giving him a nice funeral.

Thank you for your support. We also need prayers as this is very devastating. We lost a very important person in all of our lives.