Bud Vernal Campbell, "Lil Bud"

Bud Vernal Campbell, "Lil Bud", 63, of Old Hays, Montana, passed away from natural causes on August 3, 3021, at the Peace Hospital in Great Falls, Montana.

A wake service was held 7 pm Saturday, August 7, 2021, and funeral service was held at 11 am, Sunday, August 8, 2021, at the Enemy Killer Gym in Lodgepole. Burial will be at the Campbell Ranch Cemetery in Old Hays followed by a feed at the Enemy Killer Gym in Lodgepole.

Lil Bud was born October 17, 1957, at the Indian Hospital in Poplar, Montana, to Betty Duvall Campbell and Michael "Bud" V. Campbell. His siblings are the late Michael "Skinny" Campbell, Delores Campbell, Margarett Campbell, Sydne Campbell, Sylvia Campbell and Toma Campbell.

He was a member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine Tribe and spent most of his life on the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap Indian reservations. Lil Bud was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church and respected the native traditional ways. Bud attended Riverside Indian School in Anadarko OK, with his close sister Margie, and graduated from Harlem High School in 1975. Lil Bud learned horseshoeing basics from his dad and graduated from Oklahoma Horseshoeing School in 1976. He attended auctioneer school as well as Fort Belknap College for two years majoring in business.

Bud followed his dad's footsteps and worked as a police officer for Fort Belknap Law and Order in the late 1970s. He was a game warden for the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes. He cowboyed for the Fort Peck Tribal Farm and Ranch and was cattle foreman for a time. Bud spent a few summers working on dude ranches as a guide and when they found out he was a certified farrier he and Knobby Brown shod horses for Dude ranches in the area. He and his cousin Jim Duvall shod horses together for several years. Lil Bud ran his Bud Campbell Horseshoeing business from 1977 to 2010 shoeing thousands of horses in his lifetime. He slowed down after a particularly difficult back surgery. Bud took pride in his farrier work and everyone that used his services can vouch for his skills. Bud worked with his dad on the Campbell Ranch up until his Dad's death in 1996.

Bud contracted polio when he was 8.5 months old. Consequently, he had more than 40 surgeries beginning when he was just a baby. Bud never let polio stop him from being the man he was. He was a horse shoer, steer wrestler, team roper, he broke and trained horses, auctioneer, he walked miles and hunted and hauled elk out of the Missouri breaks on foot. He was never interested in being an office worker, he liked challenges like being a cop, game warden, pool shooter, fist fighter, dart shooter, and a cowboy. His dad was his hero and he took on many of the things he did over his lifetime. Old Bud taught his kids how to cut studs the right way where they don't get infected or hurt in the process. He cut studs his entire life just like his dad taught him to.

Lil Bud loved rodeo beginning as a youngster and throughout his life. He participated in bulldogging, team roping and calf roping competing in the high school, college, Indian and open rodeos. Lil Bud was an avid hunter, fisherman, trapper and skinner, operated a trapping business and was a certified hunter safety course instructor. He enjoyed hunting with his son, nephews and brother-in-law Randy Perez, and all of his hunting partners.

He married Lola Jean Werk on June 30, 1979, and from this union one son was born, Jason Thomas Campbell, his only child. They later divorced and remained close until his passing. Bud married Lynn Jackson, from Chicken Hill near Wolf Point and became a stepfather to Jason Payne, June G and Honey Grandchamp. They later divorced and Lynn preceded him in death. He had a very special place in his heart for his grandchildren Terrell and Taylor Hamilton.

Bud loved kids and was very kind and patient with them. Bud loved his nieces and nephews and their children. He was always there to help them with roping, standing right in the roping box giving calm instructions that helped them with butterflies and quick loops. He was a good teacher and always mentored and encouraged young people. When they won or placed, he celebrated and when they didn't, he encouraged them to keep on. He had the best humor and wit and brought smiles and laughter to those he met.

He is survived by his mother, Betty Campbell, son Jason Campbell, grandchildren Cooper Margaret Campbell and Gunnar Augustus Campbell, Goddaughter Kelly Cole, sister Delores Campbell, nieces Lisa, Tricia, nephew James, sister Margarett Campbell (Warren), nieces, Vernelle, Reyna, Jennifer, sister Toma Campbell, nieces Kasey, Emily, nephews Rope and Zak, sister Sydne Campbell, nieces Natasha and Belina, sister Sylvia Campbell Tangen (Tracy), nieces Collette, Colleen, nephews Coleman, Dean, sister-in-law Wanda "Liza" Campbell, nephew Dale, nieces Melinda, Katie, Jacki, Sandi, Heidi, cousins Jim Duvall and Estelle Enemy Boy and numerous great-nieces and great-nephews, friends and family members who he loved dearly and who loved him.

Lil Bud was preceded in death by his father Michael "Bud" V. Campbell, special uncle Tom "TL" Campbell, brother Michael "Skinny" Campbell, adopted brother Bush Cole, nephews Frank Buck Perez and Cory Stiffarm, niece Mikki Campbell, paternal grandfather Michael J Campbell, paternal grandmother Estelle (Cusker) Campbell, maternal grandfather Walter "Dube" Duvall, maternal grandmother Sydne (Trethewey) Duvall, and grandnephew Cash Wells. Arrangements have been entrusted with Wilderness Funeral Home.