Laura Mae M’Jessepe-Ortiz

A Native American Church supper for Laura Mae M’Jessepe-Ortiz, (Pshuck to’ quah), 76, Lawrence, will be this evening at Brown County Native American Church, 5 miles east on Kansas Highway 20 from U.S. Highway 75. Burial will be Wednesday at M’Jessepe Family Cemetery north of the church. Mrs. M’Jessepe-Ortiz died Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008, at her son’s home.She was born Feb. 19, 1931, on the Kickapoo Reservation, the daughter of Dewey M’Jessepe (Ga Kee Kaw bah) and Minnie Wahwassuck-M’Jessepe (Sho-wak-e-yah). She attended Red Top Grade School on the Kickapoo Reservation and Haskell Institute in Lawrence. She was a former resident of Brown County.Mrs. M’Jessepe-Ortiz was a nurse’s aide and a homemaker. She was a member of Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation with Kickapoo bloodline. She belonged to Brown County Native American Church.She married Eleodoro “Lolo” Ortiz. They divorced.Survivors include a son, Stephen R. Ortiz and wife Dolores, Lawrence; two grandsons, Stephen E. and Dominic R. Ortiz; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by two sisters, Big June Green and Melvina Banks; and five brothers, Paul, Francis “Bud,” Louis “Roe Cloud,” Nelson “Pandy” and Walter M’Jessepe.Friends may call after 2 p.m. today at the church. The family suggests memorials to Kansas Heartland Hospice, sent in care of Mercer Funeral Home, P.O. Box 270, Holton, KS 66436. Online condolences may be sent at www.mercerfuneralhomes.com.