Our beloved Elissa Michelle Lambert Barr, age 40, passed quietly in her sleep on September 6, 2018 at home after battling a long time illness.
Elissa began her journey on this Earth on January 24, 1978 in Phoeniz, AZ to her parents Carmelita and Robert Lambert.
When she was 4 years old her family moved to Fort Kipp, MT to live on the Fort Peck Reservation, where she was also an enrolled member on top of her Turtle Mountain background on her grandpa’s side. She graduated from headstart in Fort Kipp and then moved to school in Culbertson, MT, and had become the Culbertson Cowgirls cheerleading mascot at 5 years old. A few years later for a change of pace, she moved to Helena, MT when she was 10, and this is where she finished out her junior and high school years. After high school she started her casino gaming career ranging from bookkeeper up to managing her own casino, The Silver Wolf around 2004. During this time she met and married Matt Hartnett and from this union two sons were born, Matthew Gene and Nathan David. She and Matt later separated and then divorced. In 2000 she met Steve Barr. In 2001 they started their life together with the birth of their daughter, Kirsten Nicole Lambert Barr as they settled in Wolf Point, MT. In 2005 while at a gaming conference in Las Vegas, she and Steve got married,
Elissa took college courses in Tribal Law, and passed the bar exam on her first try. She also became a notary public while working a short time for Terry Toavs. She loved to craft and make things, whether it be quill and bead work or making jewelry. On top of her love for family she also had a soft side for the four legged kind too. She was always taking in stray dogs. Rodeos and pow-wows were a favorite pastime. It was where she was able to get in touch with her Native heritage and received her Indian name Hot Stone Woman. Her claim to fame was when she and her daughter became “movie stars” in an Assiniboine documentary about the Nakona people of the Fort Peck Reservation.
She was very proud of her daughter, as she was the joy of her life and also loved her husband very much. Family was very important to Elissa. She was the youngest of 9 children, and was very protective of her nieces, nephews and grandchildren. Even through her sickness she was always willing to give a helping hand and made friends easily while keeping an open door for anyone who needed it.
Elissa is preceded in death by her father Robert Lambert; brother Dennis; sister Denise; nieces April, Sierra and Chelle; nephew A.J.; grandson Jake and great-grandfather Henry.
She is survived by her 3 children: Matthew, Nathan and Kirsten; her husband Steve and his children Alex Barr, she liked to watch him play HS basketball, Steve Barr III, she enjoyed watching him play HS basketball and football and Austin Barr; mother Carmelita; siblings Darlene, Leonard, Verle, Darrell, Jackie and David; adopted children Dylan Jackson, Neal Iron Cloud, Ian Dumont, Adam Taylor, Siera Dawn Barrera, Shelby Lilley, Haley Jackson, Sky Johnston and Alaina Mae Adams.
Her family will never forget her loving smile and positive attitude, as she was a tough woman all the way up to the end.