August 26, 1950 – September 4, 2025
Mary Ann (Stover) Black Bird, 75, of Eagle Butte passed away Thursday, September 4, 2025, at Mayo Clinic Hospital, Rochester, MN.
Funeral services were on Friday, September 12, 2025, at Our Lady of Sorrows in Kyle. Burial was in the Stover Family Cemetery, Kyle.
Mary Ann was born on August 26, 1950, in Hot Springs to Oliver and Evelyn (Hungry) Stover. She attended elementary school in Allen, Loneman Day School, Our Lady of Lourdes and high school at Oglala Community School in Pine Ridge as well as Holy Rosary. She obtained her GED and later attended USD and OLC.
She met Ronnie Black Bird at a powwow in Rapid City in 1989 and they were formally married in 2002.
Mary dedicated her life to serving Tribal families and communities. She began as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer in Pine Ridge, later working as a dispatcher for the OST Tribal Police Department and a Family Court Representative. After moving to Cheyenne River, she supported mothers and children through Healthy Start and as a GED tutor in Eagle Butte. She also worked with the Four Bands Community Fund and trained many childhood care providers through Presentation College. Mary completed her career as data coordinator with Tribal Ventures.
Mary and her husband, Ronnie, joined a Cheyenne River group volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Winnipeg, helping build 16 homes in one week. They visited with President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter and helped bring the 1994 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project to Cheyenne River – the first Habitat blitz build on a Native American reservation.
Mary began her spiritual and healing journey in the late 1980s at the Medicine Horse Sundance in Evergreen. From then on, she lived her life according to the Canku Luta and became a mentor to many, especially women and young girls interested in learning the Lakota way of life. In 1993, Mary embraced the role of sundance leader’s wife, supporting Ronnie’s dream as they dedicated their lives to the Rattling Hail Sundance. Through the Rattling Hail Sundance, they helped secure a grant that, over the last five years, has supported nearly 40 families in the Pine Ridge, Fort Thompson, Standing Rock, and Cheyenne River communities, providing resources for elders raising their grandchildren.
She is survived by her husband, Ronnie Black Bird; her daughter, Becky Red Bow Covey of Rapid City; three stepchildren, Ron Black Bird Jr. (Krissy) of Swiftbird, Daniel Black Bird (Doneen) of LaPlant, and Alana Traversie (Daniel) of Pierre; grandchildren Tony Stover, Oliver Covey, Kylie Rose, Jamerson, Ashanti, Daniel Jr., Jace, Lacy, Cecil, Rylan, Ramsey, Rhawni Jo, Bella, Tremaine, and Alli and Adonis; great-grandchildren, Audrea Rose, Phoenix, and Enzo; brother, James Tim Stover, TX; sisters, Bernadette Stover, Gina Veo (Terry), Donna Stover, and Kathy Stover; sister-in-law, Alita Pfeifle; as well as extended family and many hunka relatives.
Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Oliver W. and Evelyn (Hungry) Stover; paternal grandparents, Edward and Susie (Swallow) Stover and maternal grandmother, Nellie Hungry; brothers Bill and Russ Stover; and several nieces and nephews Luce Funeral Home of Gettysburg and Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge were in charge of arrangements.