Victoria B. Putnam

Mass of Christian Burial for Victoria B. Putnam, 80, of Ft. Yates, ND will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, May 22, 2021 at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Ft. Yates. Inurement will be June 4, 2021 in St. Peter’s Catholic Cemetery. A liturgical wake service will be held Friday, May 21 at 7:00 p.m. with visitation from 5 to 7:00 p.m. at the church.

Victoria died May 8, 2021 at Sanford Medical Center, Bismarck, ND.

Carlsen Funeral Home and Crematory of Aberdeen is in charge of arrangements.

Victoria Bennetta Claymore was born at home, in Fort Yates, on November 18, 1940 to Peter Serafine Claymore and Mary Rose (BearKing) Claymore, the youngest of seven children. She attended St. Bernard Mission School, Standing Rock Public School, and Standing Rock High School. Her early years were spent helping her father with his horse and cattle ranch.

On June 21, 1958 she married Clinton Russell Putnam at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Fort Yates. They had five children and were foster parents and second parents to many others.

Vicky and Clint enjoyed team roping together and traveled on the weekends, every summer, to local rodeos. She was an active member of St. Peter’s Parish and served on the Parish Board.

In 1967, Clint started Putnam Excavating. In 1970, Vicky expressed her thoughts that the company should be more profitable, so Clint told her to “have at it” with managing the business. She worked at St. Bernard Mission School as the assistant cook from 1972 to 1979. In 1985 she branched out into construction, building and remodeling houses. She started Putnam Foodservice, providing 600 meals each day to Standing Rock schools. In 1993 she got the bid for the food service contract on Minot Air Force Base. Two years later, she also won the bid on the Malmstrom Air Force Base Foodservice in Montana. She later managed the restaurant at the Grand River Casino near Mobridge.

In 2000, Vicky applied to be a cook at the Standing Rock Middle School. Instead of a cooking position, she was offered a position as a paraprofessional in the middle school. She got her first degree at age 66, Associate of Science in Education. At 67 she attained her second degree, Associate of Science in Early Childhood Education. In 2008 she retired from teaching to spend more time at home with Clint.

Victoria is survived by her daughters Colleen Teske and Connie (Tipton) Marshall; sons Russell (Kari) Putnam, Jonathan (Pam) Putnam and Leslie Putnam; one Hunka daughter, Alsace LaFramboise; ten grandchildren- Erin Bird, Desirae Putnam, Ashley Hahn, Samantha Teske, Dakota (Austin) Gruba, Jon Teske, Jade Marshall, Cody Marshall, Amy Walla, Alexa Putnam: nine great-grandchildren; special daughters Darcy Putnam and Tamara Snyder; special sons David Harrison, Jr. and Dan Snyder; sisters-in-law Mabel Haynie, Bernice (Bob) Wagner, Florence Larson, and Glennys Ulschak; and brothers-in-law Bob Pollock and Ray Heyne.

Vicky was preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, Clinton; her parents in-laws, Leslie and Sadie Putnam; brothers Sidney Claymore and Donald (Leona) Claymore; sisters Faye (Ray) Brooks, Myrna (Norman) Wafters, Rita Leupke, and Baby Alsace Claymore; nieces Tamara Jo LaFramboise and Linda DuBray; nephew Del Gene Claymore; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.

(Connie Marshall’s address is PO Box 163, Timber Lake, SD 57656)